The Demon's Enchantment
by Sylvermist
Summary: Natsu and Mirajane have been friends since forever, until Lisanna's death tear their heart apart. They seek each other's comfort in hope for a remedy without realizing a stronger bond is starting to form between them.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

 **Prologue**

* * *

 _Year X778_

" _Hey! Who the hell did that?"_

 _Twelve-year-old Natsu shouted after a wooden chair mysteriously landed on his head. His eyes roamed around the guild hall, until it finally spotted his rival sitting on a chair across the room. His head hung lazily and was supported by his palm._

 _Without second thought, Natsu confronted him, "Hey, ice prick! You tryna pick a fight with me?"_

 _Gray glanced jadedly at him. "It wasn't me, flame brain."_

 _Natsu stomped angrily to him. "Say that again ice princess!" he challenged, feeling the itch to beat his butt off._

 _Losing his temper as well, Gray stood up. "I said it wasn't me,_ flame brain. _" He intentionally emphasized the insult part._

 _In a blink of an eye, Natsu's small body lunged forward to his rival, and the guild's daily brawl began. It didn't last long though, because Erza—who acted as the guild disciplinary—was there to witness the whole situation. Hands on hips, and a scowl on her face; she wasn't pleased at all._

 _She hastily grabbed both boys' shirt, effectively stopping their brawl._

" _What did I tell you about fighting each other?" She hissed dangerously._

 _Both of them sweat dropped, but Gray was brave enough to defend himself. "I—I didn't do anything! Ash brain started it!" He pointed an accusing finger at Natsu._

" _H—He's lying! He threw a chair to my head!"_

" _I told you it wasn't me!"_

 _A thick mark appeared on Erza's forehead. "Both of you shut up!" She knocked their heads onto each other's, earning a series of painful groans. Knowing that her job was done, she left to enjoy her waiting strawberry cake._

" _That hurts!" Natsu pitifully rubbed his swollen head. His eyes glassy, looking like he was about to cry._

" _Aww, is little Natsu crying?" Thirteen-year-old Mirajane teased, a glint in her eyes at the sight of the poor pink haired. She pinched his cheek hard. "You're adorable when you cry."_

" _Ouch, ouch, ouch, Mirajane! Stop!" He swatted away her punishing hand. It only made the Demon laugh hard._

" _It was me, Natsu," she suddenly said._

 _He got up to his feet, now rubbing his red cheek. "What?" He asked._

" _I was the one who threw it, not Gray."_

" _So it's you! You wanna fight with me? You could have just ask, it doesn't need to involve chair-throwing!"_

 _Mirajane flashed him a devilish smirk. "Come on, where's the fun in that?"_

" _Alright, then let's fight!" Natsu's eyes lit up with determination at the thought of fighting a strong opponent._

" _Bring it on." The Demon motioned her index and middle finger, challenging him to come at her. A cocky smile was apparent on her face, knowing full well that her victory was a certainty._

 _The small dragon slayer charged at her, his fist in the air ready to land a punch on her face. But his speed was no match for her as she merely sidestepped to dodge his attack. Once his body hit the floor, Mirajane showed no mercy by kicking him hard on the gut, sliding him across the room, hitting the tables and chairs in the process. Just like that, she singlehandedly ended the match._

 _She dusted off her hands, chuckling haughtily. "You still got 20 years ahead of you before you can defeat me, little punk."_

 _His response was a mere groan._

" _Nee-chan! Stop hurting Natsu, he's got enough already!" Lisanna chided, rushing to the pink haired._

 _Mirajane merely watched as her little sister helped him to get up. "If he's a real boy he can handle it. Let him be, Lisanna."  
_

 _But the said girl chose to ignore her sister. Her attention was fully directed at the dragon slayer. "Are you okay?"_

 _He nodded, and wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt. "Yeah... I'm alright."_

" _Lisanna!"_

 _The commanding tone startled both of them. The youngest Strauss sibling finally turned to her sister. She didn't say anything, but her deadly glare was enough of a confirmation that she had pissed the Demon off. Natsu immediately cowered in fear, even Lisanna almost feel as scared. But she knew her better than that._

 _Without a word, Mirajane turned on her heels and slammed the guild door open, stomping away angrily._

" _Please forgive her, Natsu. She could be mean sometimes, but she's actually really nice." Lisanna smiled apologetically at him. "I have to catch up with her. I'll see you later!"_

" _Bye." Natsu waved back._

 _Once her figure disappeared, he muttered to himself, "Stupid Mira."_

* * *

 _Year X781_

 _With sixteen-year-old Mirajane and fifteen-year-old Natsu._

" _Big fish!" Happy exclaimed hungrily as he watched Natsu caught his favorite food with his rod. They had by far caught three fish in total, but this one was the biggest. Happy was practically drooling all the time._

" _Yes! We're going to have a feast tonight!" Natsu raised the fish in the air. He wasn't less enthusiastic than the blue cat._

" _Huh, nice catch."  
_

 _Both of them spun around at the feminine voice to see the infamous Fairy Tail Demon leaning against a tree with crossed arms. For the past three years she had grown into a more mature girl. While her old self used to bully everyone around her, and pick out fights, now she had surprisingly become calmer. Her fighting frequency with Erza had gradually lessen, though their never ending rivalry didn't subside. She would still—however—make pranks and tease people every now and then, Natsu was no exception. She still enjoyed seeing him cry._

" _M—Mirajane? What are you doing here?"  
_

 _She shrugged nonchalantly. "I was training over that forest when I hear familiar voices from around here. I see it was you guys."  
_

" _Oh yeah, Happy and I are just fishing for dinner tonight."_

" _Yeay, fish!" Happy chirped in, practically jumping up and down in excitement._

 _Mirajane, who was still in the same position leaning on a tree, frowned. "You can cook?"_

" _Ah..." Natsu scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "No, actually. We're just going to roast them as usual."_

" _Like what? Burning them with your fire?"_

" _Yeah!"_

 _Her frown deepened. She imagined both of them eating a poorly scorched fish with their overwhelming appetite, and it wasn't a pretty image. Her mind quickly dispersed the thought as she was starting to feel sick. She decided to help them once in a while._

" _What if you bring those fishes over to my house and I'll make you something decent?" She offered casually. It's been a while since she last made seafood herself._

" _Really?!" Both Natsu and Happy's eyes were sparkling with hope. When she nodded, the blue cat had lost himself in his own world, while the dragon slayer did a victory dance._

" _But on one condition."_

 _They stopped their little fantasies and victorious moment to listen._

" _You both have to clean up the dishes afterward."_

 _Natsu saluted. "You got it ma'am!"_

 _Followed by Happy. "Aye sir!"_

 _Mirajane smirked and gestured them to follow her. "Come on, it's going to be dark anytime soon."_

 _And they happily followed her._

 _By the time they reached Strauss' residence, Elfman and Lisanna were already waiting in the living room and were surprised to see that their big sister had invited someone from the guild to their house, let alone for dinner. Though Lisanna was more thrilled than surprised to have her best friend in her house._

" _Yeay, Natsu will join us for dinner! Natsu will join us for dinner!" she chanted around happily, while the said boy merely grinned. "You're the first to visit our house, you know."_

" _Really?" Natsu shot his eyebrows in surprise._

 _Lisanna nodded. "Mira-nee doesn't like it when other people come here, so I was surprised when she brought you along. But it's okay! You're more than welcome in here." She clasped her hands and grinned enthusiastically._

" _I don't know what Mira thinks either, but whatever it is, I'm glad. As long as there is good food served." He grinned widely._

 _Happy tugged his small paw at Lisanna's dress. "Lisanna... When is the fish ready?"_

" _Oh, it will be ready soon! Just wait for a few minutes, okay?"_

 _As if on cue, Mirajane called her from the kitchen._

" _Lisanna, help me clean these fishes!"_

" _Coming!" She ran into the kitchen, thus leaving Natsu, Happy and Elfman in the living room._

 _Happy flew around the room and declared, "I'm going to check out Lisanna's room. Which one is it?" he asked Elfman._

" _It's the second door upstairs. But keep out of nee-chan's room," he warned with a serious look, and Happy knew better to listen to him._

" _Aye sir!" And off he flew upstairs._

 _Natsu's keen nose caught the delicious smell of food from the kitchen. He tiptoed his way there but was stopped by Elfman._

" _I say you'd better stay here."_

 _He groaned. "Why? Can't I just have a taste? Or a peek?"_

" _Nee-chan is serious when cooking. You don't want to disturb her, or you'll know the consequences. Trust me, I've been there before." He mentally cringed as he recalled the last time he messed around in the kitchen when her big sister was working there, and he had his head hit by a frying pan and was almost thrown a knife at._

 _Knowing how fearsome the Demon Mirajane could be, Natsu took his advice and plopped down on the sofa. Waiting would definitely be better than dying._

* * *

" _Ah, so good..."_

 _Natsu patted his full stomach happily once the dinner was over, a content smile was clear on his face. He and Happy were the ones who ate the most with so much appetite one would believe they hadn't eaten for a week. However, it was rather an amusing scene for the Strauss siblings, except for Mirajane though who had to remind them to keep their calm on the dining table every ten seconds._

" _Mira, I would come here every day for a meal like that," the dragon slayer said, still patting his belly._

" _I told you Mira-nee is the best cook in the world!" Lisanna chirped in proudly._

 _The unnecessary compliments made Mirajane blushed. "S—Stop it, I'm not that good. And you helped me there."_

" _Cleaning the fish was hardly any help, Mira-nee."_

" _Anyway," she quickly changed the subject since she was feeling rather uncomfortable. "You two still had chores to do." She pointed at Natsu and Happy._

" _Chores? What chores?" Elfman asked curiously, looking between his guests._

 _Mirajane smirked. "The only reason I brought them here is so they can help with the dishes. It's only a fair trade seeing how much they enjoyed my cooking."_

 _Natsu slapped his palm across his forehead. "Damn! I totally forgot about that."_

" _Remember, a promise is a promise." The Demon's smirk grew wider, and more devilishly._

 _And Natsu could only sigh dejectedly. "Alright, alright. Come on buddy, let's get this dishes done." But when he turned to the blue cat, he found that he was already sleeping soundly, with a drool lingering on the edge of his mouth threatening to fall._

" _Happy wake up!"_

 _No answer._

 _Happy was still asleep._

 _He was about to shake the hell out of his tiny body when Lisanna stopped him. "Don't do that! He's probably tired and in need of sleep. It's good for his growth! Don't you want the best for our child?"_

 _Natsu groaned. He was actually pissed at her for mentioning those stuff, especially in front of other guild member. "Ugh, fine. I'll do it myself."_

" _Whatever, as long as someone cleans them." Mirajane shrugged, and left the room, followed by Elfman who excused himself to go to bed._

 _Lisanna cradled Happy in her arms. "I'm going to bed too. I'll take Happy with me, is it okay?"_

" _Yeah, yeah. Sure."_

 _They exchanged 'goodnights' and she left. Natsu lazily walked his way to the kitchen sink to find an overwhelming amount of dishes waiting for him. He sighed loudly, but started washing anyway. He was unaware of Mirajane who leaned against the threshold, watching him with an amused smile._

 _She finally approached him. "Here, I'll help you."_

 _Natsu was surprised when he saw her. He didn't expect her presence in the kitchen, let alone helping him. Since when did Mirajane became so nice toward him? Was this the 'Kind Mirajane' Lisanna described her as?_

 _He was caught staring at her as now she stared back at him, frowning. "What?"  
_

" _N—Nothing." He resumed cleaning the stain off the plate._

" _Tell me about Lisanna," Mirajane suddenly said, her hands still busy wiping the plates._

" _What do you mean?"  
_

" _Do you really like her?"_

" _Like her like what?"_

" _Stop throwing questions back at me!"_

" _Alright, I'm sorry!"_

 _And silence fell upon them._

 _Mirajane had to hold the urge to hit his head. She sighed, and managed to ask in a calmer tone. "So, what do you say?"  
_

" _Lisanna? Well, she is my best friend, of course I like her," Natsu replied matter-of-factly._

" _I mean_ real _feelings, not just buddy-buddy affection."_

 _He blinked, still didn't understand._

 _Unable to sustain her patience any longer, she grabbed a frying pan near her and hit his head with it without even so much as holding back._

" _Ouch! The hell Mira?!" Natsu rubbed his head painfully._

 _The Demon flashed a lopsided smile, feeling relieved to finally release her pent up anger. "That's for your dense brain. Maybe it will help to get it work properly."_

" _You're crazy!"_

" _And you're an idiot. Finish your job already, then you can go home."_

 _Grumbling, Natsu continued his task on hand. All of Mirajane's earlier nice impression had vanished from his mind. She was certainly still the same old Demon of Fairy Tail._

 _He was too preoccupied with his thoughts he didn't realize all of the dishes had been cleaned._

 _He whistled in surprise. "Wow, things sure are faster done when together."_

" _Yeap, that's why I helped you in the first place, so you can leave my house sooner."_

" _Aw, are you trying to dissipate me? Come on, I like it here!"_

 _Mirajane's eyebrows shot up. She was surprised that the dragon slayer still enjoyed his time being there even though she practically exploited him and even physically abused him. "Are you kidding?"_

 _He shook his head. "What's not to like when I get to eat your fantastic cooking?"  
_

 _Another compliment about her cooking, which effectively made her cheeks pink again. "S—Shut up, dumbass." She glanced at the clock on the wall which showed it was already a quarter past nine. "It's late. You should go now."_

" _But what about Happy?" he asked, remembering the exceed was still with Lisanna._

" _He'll be fine with us. It won't make you cry to sleep a night without him, right?" Mirajane grinned. Her mischievous self was back._

" _O—Of course not! I'm brave enough to sleep on my own!"_

 _His extravagant response made her chuckle. "Good then. Now, shoo." She waved a hand to dismiss him._

 _Despite the way she sent Natsu away, Mirajane was considerate enough to walk him to the front door, something she found odd herself. But she figured it was a silent gesture of gratitude for him helping out with the house chores, even if it wasn't much. Though she wouldn't even admit it to herself as her ego was too high._

 _Before Natsu exited the house, he stopped and turned back to the oldest Strauss. He scratched his head nervously. "Umm... Do you mind if I, you know, hang around here again some time?"_

 _Though surprised, Mirajane was able to mask it away, and folded her arms instead. "So you can have an all-you-can-eat feast all the time?"  
_

" _Yes, uh... I mean, no! I—I want to play with Lisanna here."_

 _She cocked an eyebrow. "Really? Are you sure you don't want to have a taste of my '_ fantastic cooking' _?" She made an air quote at the last words, mimicking the way he said it earlier._

 _Knowing that he was busted, Natsu grunted. "Ugh, fine. I want to join you guys on dinner too."_

 _Mirajane's lips twisted into a devilish smile as an idea popped in her head. "You may."_

" _Really?"_

" _Only if you agree to do the chores again. Maybe you can try sweeping the house next time."_

 _He bumped fist into the air. "Awesome! I don't care what it takes, as long as I get to eat good food!'_

" _It's a deal then," Mirajane declared, extending her hand for a handshake._

 _And Natsu firmly sealed it, "Deal."_

 _Since then, the dragon slayer started to visit the Strauss residence more often. Sometimes simply to play around with the siblings, Mirajane was no exception, and some other time he would stay later to have dinner with them. The warmth he felt when he was spending time with them was something he had never felt before. The laughter and cozy atmosphere that radiated in the air around them always comforted him. He was beginning to feel he had a real family._

* * *

 _Year X782_

 _It had been three days._

 _Three days since the guild was informed with the sudden death of their beloved guild member, Lisanna. Her death wounded the guild deeply. Everyone hadn't stopped mourning since then, especially those who were close to her._

 _Three days ago was the last time everyone saw the remaining Strauss siblings. People assumed Elfman was too guilty to even make an appearance in the guild. He couldn't stop blaming himself for what happened to his sister, even though no one was putting the blame on him. Mirajane was another issue. She didn't cry during the funeral, nor did she utter a single word. Throughout the whole ceremony she merely stared at Lisanna's gravestone. Her face was bleak and her eyes were dull. When people approached her to show their condolences, she would returned it with a polite smile but it was void of any emotions._

 _Natsu was walking down the streets of Magnolia with Happy floating slowly above his head. Neither of them said anything. Lisanna's death still affected them in many ways. While Happy would still mourn over her every once in a while, Natsu was fast to recover. It took him a whole day to cry over his childhood friend, and the day after that, he no longer did. But it didn't mean that he was over it, no, he just chose to keep silent about it._

 _His main concern now was Elfman and Mirajane._

 _As they reached the guild, he opened the main door, hoping to find the familiar faces of the Strauss siblings among the grim faces of Fairy Tail mage. And he found one._

" _Hey, Elfman," he greeted as he sat next to him on the table he was occupying. Happy settled on his head._

" _Natsu, Happy," he acknowledged slowly._

 _Natsu tried to lift the heavy atmosphere surrounding him by grinning and patting the bigger guy's shoulder. "It's good to see you back. How are you feeling man?"  
_

" _Honestly? Not good. I can't stop thinking about it. I'm a man, I should have been able to protect my family, but instead I hurt them." He shook his head in disappointment, his eyes were full of sadness._

" _Hey, nobody blames you for what happened and you know it."_

 _He sighed sadly. "I can't help it. Every second I think about what would have happened if I weren't so reckless. I'm such a failure of a man," he wailed, his eyes welling up with tears. He covered them with the back of his hand and started sobbing silently._

 _Natsu frowned. He didn't like to see Elfman acting so weak and vulnerable. "Stop it," he said rather harshly. At this, Elfman looked up at him._

" _You claimed to be a man all the time yet all you do is sit here, lamenting and blaming yourself over the past that cannot be undone. You can't change what's happened, so what you got to do now is look forward, wipe that tears out of your face and smile. Lisanna wouldn't want to see you mourn over her relentlessly, it would make her feel like she was being a burden for you. Instead, she would want to see you smile. Smile over the fact that you hadn't completely lost her because she will forever stay in your heart." He stopped for a moment as the image of his childhood friend smiling warmly at him crossed his mind. Unconsciously, he smiled too. "For her sake, we have to be strong so she could forever rest peacefully."_

 _To say that Elfman was surprised was an understatement. He was_ stunned _by his words. He never imagined that it would be Natsu of all people who gives lecture and acts so wisely even though deep down he knew he was suffering too. He didn't know how he did it, but his words managed to knock some sense into him. For Lisanna's sake, he would be strong and live his life the way he used to. A newfound determination rose within him. He started to see everything from a new perspective. From now on, he would get stronger so he could protect his family; his sister and his guildmates._

" _Y—You're right, Natsu. I should have been more considerate of Lisanna's feelings." And for the first time today, he smiled a sincere smile. "Thank you."_

 _Natsu grinned, happy that he was able to help someone, especially Elfman. Then he remembered something._

" _Where's Mira?" He asked as his eyes scanned the room._

" _Nee-chan hasn't been very well these last three days. She's been staying inside her room most of the time, she doesn't even go out for dinner. She refused to talk or even see me. I'm really worried about her, but what can I do? Every time I ask her if she's okay, she'd always settle with 'I'm fine'. It's painful to watch her like that."_

 _Natsu was taken aback at how terrible Mirajane was handling the situation. His concern over her had increased even more. He needed to see her. "I'll try to talk to her."  
_

" _Yes, I think you should," Elfman agreed. "Whatever it takes to bring her back again."_

 _He didn't need to be told twice. He nodded firmly at him and rose to his feet. Remembering his blue cat, he lifted him off his head and placed him on the table._

" _Stay here, I'll be back soon," he told him, which the exceed replied with a small nod._

 _And with that, he left the guild._

* * *

 _Strauss' residence was now in a different condition since his last visit. Somehow, the place had gotten darker and messier rather than the usual clean and tidy condition, and the lively atmosphere that used to surround the house was replaced with a gloomier one, perfectly matching the current emotions of those who lived inside it. It saddened him._

 _He ascended the stairs and wasted no time to reach Mirajane's room. As he predicted, the door was closed._

 _He knocked softly on the wooden door. "Mirajane?" he called._

 _There was no immediate response. He waited for a few seconds before knocking again._

" _Who is it?" A small reply came from the inside._

" _It's me, Natsu. Can I come in?" He waited for a reply, but when there was none, he took it as an approval and permitted himself to enter._

 _Mirajane was crouching on her bed, arms hugging her knees protectively, and her eyes warily following every movements he made. Her skin looked paler despite her usual, already pale skin, and she looked sick like she hadn't eaten for days, which, Natsu thought, was a huge possibility. She was wearing a mini black satin nightdress, and the length did no help in covering her long legs, especially in her current position. Her tousled platinum locks were not tied in a ponytail as usual, instead she let them flowed against her bare back, which was a new sight for Natsu. Despite holding the title of the Demon of Fairy Tail, right now she almost looked angelic._

 _Strange enough, he found himself admiring her beauty, something he didn't normally do. Never once had a girl's beauty caught his attention because he had always seen all of them the same way. No beauty had ever stood out in his eyes, yet now Mirajane, who wasn't even her normal self, dressed in a simple nightgown, face bleak and hair messy looked surprisingly attractive to him. He didn't know which one sounded crazier; getting the idea of Mirajane being beautiful or getting the idea of Mirajane being beautiful_ during _the current circumstances._

 _This whole idea made absolutely no sense for him. He couldn't fathom the feeling he was currently experiencing. He had seen her everyday for years now. Her casual attire was never one to be categorized as decent or proper, so why would a simple short nightgown make any difference? Since when did he start looking at her_ that _way? And why now, of all times? Was it because she wore her hair down? Or was it because she looked so fragile, so innocent and... very un-demon like?_

 _He hadn't realized he had been holding his breath all this time, so he released them._

" _Hi, Natsu," she greeted, her voice was strikingly soft. She flashed a faint smile for a mere split second before it was replaced with a blank stare. "What are you doing here?"  
_

" _Just want to see how you're doing." The dragon slayer smiled as he walked over to sit across her on the bed._

 _Mirajane's eyebrows were knitted into a light frown. "I'm fine. Why would you worry about me, though?"_

" _I'm worried because I know you're not okay. You hadn't showed up in the guild for three days, Elfman told me that you isolated yourself in your room, and now you're not acting like yourself."_

" _I just told you that I'm fine."  
_

 _He didn't like that she was acting as if nothing happened. He grabbed her shoulders firmly. "Mira, please stop it."_

 _She tilted her head slightly, staring at him with her big blue eyes. "Stop what?"_

" _Stop pretending to be fine when you're not." Natsu stared back at her firmly, his grip on her shoulders tightened. He hated to see her like this. He figured, he would rather deal with the Demon Mirajane everyday than this weak and fragile Mirajane. "You're not okay, and you know it. Why bother deny when the way you act completely spell backwards?"_

 _I know you're sad, I am too. We're facing this situation together, so don't dwell in it yourself, don't be afraid to share how you're feeling with the others. I mean, I'm here now, I want to hear you talk and I want to help you get through this. Just please, don't act like her death never happened. It kills me to see you like this."_

 _Mirajane was astounded. His words brought all of her senses back together as if she had just been resuscitated from a daydream. A sharp pang of various emotions hit her all at once, and it was too much for her. When she couldn't hold it no more, an involuntarily fresh tear rolled down on her cheek. She threw herself at him and started to sob hard on his shoulder._

 _Although surprised, Natsu tried his best to stay calm for her sake. He wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her in an attempt to soothe her back that was shaking uncontrollably. He didn't know how long they stayed like that. It felt like forever, but in a good way. Her shaking had gradually lessened under his touch to the point that she was no longer crying. Even then, she still clutched onto his shirt like it was her lifeline. He didn't mind though, he found himself somewhat enjoying it._

 _Mirajane finally pulled herself, and Natsu had to reluctantly let her go. He realized that even though her face was all red from crying, and her eyes were puffy and wet, she was better now. At least now her face were filled with emotions, albeit it was sadness._

 _She wiped her tears away with the back of her hand, and looked straight at him. What happened next was something that he never thought Mirajane could do; she gave him a genuine smile. Never once in his life had he seen her showing that kind of smile,_ ever. _He liked it though, he had decided. He wanted to see her smile like that more often. It was the kind of smile that emitted warmth which he could practically feel spreading inside his whole body. It made him comfortable._

" _Thank you," she muttered under her breath. Her voice was slightly raspy from all those crying. "Honestly, I—I didn't know what to do. When Lisanna died, a part of my soul died with her as well. She's my only sister, losing her feels like losing one of your limbs; you're not complete without it."_

 _She smiled a bitter smile, and it strained his heart. "But I feel better now, thanks to you. I never thought you're capable of being... such a good friend."_

 _Natsu chuckled. "I'm really glad I could be of help. Next time, please don't shut yourself out of everyone again alright? You had me really worried there."_

 _She chuckled too. "Yeah... sorry."_

 _Looking at her pale face, he frowned. "You look sick."_

 _The Demon shrugged. "I haven't eat anything since yesterday afternoon, soo..."_

" _What?!" he exclaimed in shock. No wonder she looked so pale. "You're crazy! I'll go grab you something to eat."_

 _Natsu rose to his feet and was about to walk when she grabbed his wrist, stopping his movement. Puzzled, he looked down at her._

" _I don't want to eat anything. I want you to just stay here with me," she whispered, giving him a pleading look. She didn't care if she sounded so needy and weak, because right now, she was. Her high ego and pride had long gone and forgotten. He was right, she wasn't being herself right now._

 _He was reluctant at first, but decided to just comply. "Okay, if you say so."_

 _When Natsu sat down across her, she shook her head and patted the vacant space beside her. He obliged and moved to sit next to her. She lifted the comforter so both of them could slip their legs inside it. Instead of sitting, she lied down, looking ready to sleep. She scooted her body closer to him until she rested her head comfortably against his lap, and she closed her eyes._

" _Uhh... Mira?"_

" _Hmm? Is something wrong?" she asked without opening her eyes. She was beginning to feel sleepy, and she found that the dragon slayer's lap was surprisingly comfortable._

 _When he saw how comfortable she seemed to be, he decided to let her be. Though he didn't really mind acting as a pillow fill-in in the first place. "Nothing," he muttered._

 _Natsu spent the next minutes observing Mirajane's sleeping form. Her platinum hair shone beautifully against the dark of the room, they looked almost as delicate as silk. From his position, he could see a tasteful amount of her cleavage, and he found his gaze lingering on those part longer than he intended to. He quickly tore his eyes away from them as he was beginning to feel like such a pervert._

 _The rhythmical movements of her breathing chest were more regulated now, indicating that she had already fallen asleep. He never would have thought that a demon could look so peaceful in her sleep. If he didn't know better, he wouldn't believe that this angelic-looking girl was the Demon of Fairy Tail at all._

 _Her soft platinum locks looked tantalizingly inviting, and he was itching to touch them. Tentatively, he reached out for her hair slowly, afraid that he might wake her up. When she stirred in her sleep to wrap her arm around his torso, he froze, as he realized that now she was effectively hugging him for the second time today. His eyes instinctively traveled down to his wrapped waist. He could feel her silky skin pressed against his exposed stomach, and for some reason it made him blush._

 _Continuing where he left off, he finally placed his palm on the top of her head. The tip of his fingers were met with the amazingly smooth platinum strands. It felt even smoother than it looked, like pure silk. Out of reflect, he started stroking her head slowly, hoping that it could bring comfort in her sleep, because she looked like she really need one of those nice and peaceful slumber._

 _His eyelids felt heavier with every passing second, but his fingers never once stopped stroking her. But when he felt like the sleepiness had taken over him, he surrendered to it._

 _The next time he opened his eyes, Elfman had somehow appeared and he could never forget the look on his face when he found them._

* * *

 **Author's note:** Hi, there!

So recently I've been enjoying reading NatsuxMira fic, so I decided to make one myself. I'm pretty excited in this project. I've given you all I've got in this chapter, so I really hope you enjoyed it as well! A heavy start, I know. It might seem a little to soon for some of you, but no, I won't rush the romance. It'd be geat to hear back from you guys! I'd greatly appreciate very feedbacks, comments, and even criticisms, as long it could improve this story.

Also, if you found any similarities between this story and other people's please note that that it's _not_ entirely intentional. I might took some ideas from here and there but I never meant to copy their story. When I wrote this, I didn't realize it turned out almost similar on certain scenes. But I didn't want to change anything on here either, so yeah.

Bye and see you soon!


	2. A Frail Soul

**1\. A Frail Soul**

* * *

" _N—Natsu?!"_

 _Elfman's jaw was literally on the floor, and his eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. He couldn't believe the sight he was witnessing right now. His big sister, his demonic, ghastly and fearful sister was found sleeping on another guy's lap—that is Natsu Dragneel's—_ and _what surprised him the most was the fact the she was actually hugging his waist. And to add it to his irritation, the said dragon slayer also seemed to be enjoying himself as his left hand was seen shamelessly resting on the top of her head. He was sure that this image would forever be burned into his retina._

 _Natsu blinked several times, battling with his sleepiness. He rubbed his eyes, and when his vision was focused, he greeted, "Oh, hey Elfman."_

" _Wh—what are you doing?!" he asked incredulously, pointing an accusing index finger. "Get your hands off my sister! When I said 'anything' it doesn't mean that I let you court with my sister! No man touches my sister without my permission! HANDS OFF!"_

" _Huh?" His sleepy brain didn't comprehend a word he was saying. But when he looked to his side, sure enough, he found the sleeping figure beside him that was none other than Mirajane Strauss._

" _WHAT!" He exclaimed. And the memory from a couple hours ago suddenly hit him; how she threw herself at him, crying on his shoulder and hugging him tightly, and how he acted as a pillow fill-in for her. He immediately removed his hand from her and held them up high in the air. "I—I didn't, I didn't mean this to happen, trust me!"_

" _What's going on?"_

 _Just in time, Happy floated into the room to see what was happening. He was brought here by Elfman, although he was supposed to wait downstairs while Elfman went to Mirajane's room to check on her. But hearing all of the ruckus upstairs, he was curious to see what was happening._

 _Realizing what it was all about, he gasped and covered his shocked mouth with his little paws. "They both llllllike each other!"_

" _Shut up, Happy!" Natsu yelled, annoyed by the fact that the exceed didn't help him in this situation. It didn't help him either when Mirajane tightened her hold around him, which didn't go unnoticed by her raging younger brother. His eyes twitched in irritation and disgust at the sight._

" _It's not manly to take advantage of a girl when they are vulnerable! And you call yourself a man? You're nothing but a disgrace!"_

" _I am NOT! I told you this isn't my fault!"_

" _If you're a man, then explain this at once!" Elfman demanded, still fuming. If Natsu was really taking advantage of his sister during her worst condition, he would make sure there will be hell to pay._

" _Yeah, Natsu! Tell us!" Happy fueled in, which only added to the dragon slayer's annoyance._

 _He groaned, and looked down at Mirajane's sleeping form. He was surprised that all of the noise didn't even make her stir in her sleep, considering both he and Elfman were talking—no, shouting—at high pitch voices. But when he thought about it, she had it rough for these couple of days, so seeing her sleep like a baby shouldn't have been such a surprise for him. He wanted to wake her up so badly, but decided against it considering her current condition. So he could only hope that she would open her eyes soon and help him untangle this huge misunderstanding._

* * *

Year X782

A month after Lisanna's death.

Since the tragic event that befell upon Fairy Tail, that is losing one of their beloved comrades one month ago, the guild had gone back to their usual behavior. Brawls everywhere, mostly caused by Natsu and Gray, chair-throwing, barrel-throwing, and pretty much everything that spelled _chaos_. Natsu had convinced everyone in the guild that there was no need to keep mourning over something that they had no control against, which—in this case—was fate, and they all agreed. And that eventually brought back the old boisterous Fairy Tail.

Mirajane and Elfman had started to show up in the guild again, although it took Mirajane another two days to collect herself together after Natsu's encouragement visit, as well as the so called 'little incident' that happened to be Elfman caught them sleeping together in her room. The whole fiasco caused a momentary awkwardness between both guys that lasted for almost a week, while Mirajane remained oblivious of everything. And both guys knew better to just keep their mouth shut.

Natsu slammed the guild door open with Happy trailing above him. His eyes wandered around the guild hall filled with all of his guildmates. He was happy to see that the guild had returned to its normal state. Their faces were now adorned with smiles and laughter instead of frowns and gloomy faces. He could see Macao and Wakaba drinking and chatting animatedly, Erza and Cana laughing at Gray who had mysteriously lost his clothing, Elfman who was boasting about how a man should be at pretty much everyone around him, even Laxus was present as well, leaning on the wall with his headphones on.

The whole scenario made Natsu smile. But his eyes didn't stop wandering. He was looking for a certain someone.

A certain Take-Over mage.

"She's not here," he mumbled to himself. His smile faltered for the slightest bit. Lately, her presence in the guild seemed to matter more to him for some reason. Everyday, as soon as he arrived at the guild, he found his eyes searching for the white-haired. He knew it was odd, he didn't even understand it himself.

Happy turned to him, and asked curiously, "Who's not here, Natsu?"

"Mirajane," he answered absentmindedly. His eyes still busy searching through the sea of people. "Mirajane is not here."

He didn't realize the blue cat was smirking devilishly at him, giving him the 'knowing' look. "I bet you lllllllike her."

"I do not! I'm just worried about her."

"Natsu, you're worried about her all the time. You care about her so much. Just admit you like her."

His cheeks were flushed. "S—Shut up, Happy!"

"Natsu likes Mira! Natsu likes Mira!" Happy chanted around loudly and flew high so that he was out of Natsu's reach.

"Hey, come back here you damned cat!" The dragon slayer roared. But the blue cat merely stuck out his tongue, fueling his anger even more. Sometimes his beloved partner could such a pain in the ass, he admitted.

"Hi, Mira! Natsu was looking for you!" Happy suddenly shouted from the air, his eyes were directed to the guild door.

True enough, when he spun around he came face to face with the Demon he was looking for. Her hair was tied up in her usual ponytail, but was slightly messier. Under her eyes were newly formed dark circles, he concluded, she hadn't gotten enough sleep. But upon seeing him, she smiled.

"What is it, Natsu?" she asked calmly.

However, Natsu hadn't recover from his fluster. He silently wondered if she had heard Happy's previous loud declaration. Luckily, the cat was nowhere in sight. At least he wouldn't be bothering him anymore. "Err... Nothing. I'm just surprised to see your absence earlier. I thought you wouldn't come."

She shrugged. "I woke up a little bit late this morning. I hadn't been sleeping well these past two days."

"Are you sick?" Natsu reached up to her forehead, and failed to feel any heat.

Mirajane closed her eyes and shook her head slowly under his touch. "Just tired." She leaned her forehead onto his palm. His touch felt so warm against her skin and it comforted her.

"You're warm," she mumbled, more to herself. Eyes closed, she was still enjoying herself.

Natsu ignored her. She looked like she could collapse any time soon and it worried him. "Come on, you have to sit down." He pulled her wrist and led her to the nearest table.

Looking straight at her eyes, he asked, "Tell me what's wrong."

Mirajane knitted her eyebrows, as if his words brought an unpleasant memory to her. Her mouth opened and closed hesitantly, looking like she was mentally debating whether she should tell him or not. But she shook her head eventually.

"No, it's nothing. Nothing important." She ended her words with a smile, but it was unconvincing.

"You're lying," he accused. It was clearly written all over her face that she was hiding something from him, and he hated it. "How many times have I told you not to hide things away from me? Be an open book, I want to help you."

"Natsu, I told you it's nothing important. I can take care of it myself."

"It must be important if it kept you all night." He reached out to place one hand on her bare shoulder, which her black halter top failed to cover. "Tell me, Mira."

His intense gaze was piercing straight through her eyes, making her felt naked and exposed. She saw determination in his eyes, something she always found admirable from him. But there were also gentleness inside it, the caring side he only showed to the ones he cared about. It always amazed her to know how much he cared about her and her well-being after everything she did to him in the past. She had been anything but nice to him. She bullied him, physically abused him, disdained him, mentally humiliated him, and she was always there to laugh at him whenever he cried. And in spite of everything that happened, he was nothing but a good friend for her. To say that she was surprised to see him came to her after Lisanna's death was an understatement; she was _astonished._

It was like he had a manuscript with a perfectly made-up scenarios, like he knew when he should show up, how he should approach and act in the whole situation, what dialogues he should utter in the scene, and the right kind of emotions he should express to her. Indeed, he did an excellent job at being a good friend, and she valued him for that.

Feeling there was no escape in this, she sighed. "I had been experiencing nightmares." She paused to smile faintly. "About Lisanna."

Natsu nodded once, silently urging her to go on.

* * *

 _Dark._

 _Everything was dark. Her body was floating inside the darkness._

Where am I?

 _Everywhere she looked around was pitch black. She couldn't see nor hear anything._

Is somebody out there?

 _She didn't know how she ended up in here. It was like she was trapped inside a deep hollow, a hollow with no escape, a tunnel with no end, a dark space with no life in it. Her whole body felt like they were engulfed by the darkness. She tried to reach out to hold onto something, to actually_ feel _something against her skin, yet she was met with void air. Absolute nothingness._

 _After what felt like eternity, finally there was light. Her surroundings were not as dark as before. Everything around her seemed to brighten, and she could finally see._

" _Mira-nee..."_

 _Then in the distance, she heard her voice. Faintly and vaguely, but she could instantly recognize that voice even from miles away. She used to hear that voice everyday in her life. But now that she couldn't, she missed it so much._

" _L—Lisanna?"_

 _She looked around, hoping to find the familiar face of her younger sister. But despite of the—now—brighter surroundings, she couldn't see her anywhere. She could only rely on the faint voice of hers to believe that her sister was actually there with her._

" _Lisanna answer me! Are you there?"  
_

" _Mira-nee, help me..."_

 _All of her instincts were on alert._

 _Turning right, turning left, she saw nothing. The whole space was empty. There was no single trace of any human being or even another entity in that space, let alone the presence of her sister. But she knew she was out there somewhere. And she needed her help._

" _Where are you?!"_

 _She was getting desperate. It frustrated her to no end to know that her sister needed her help when she couldn't even locate her. She desperately tried to move her body, eyes looking around frantically. Floating in the darkness, she couldn't get herself to stand up straight. Even moving her body to float around proved to be a futile attempt._

" _Mira-nee!"_

 _She jerked at her sister's scream. Now she was fully certain that she was in danger._

" _Lisanna! H—Hold on, I will come to you!"_

" _It's too late."_

" _What..?"_

 _Her floating body seemed to found its way to the source of the light by itself. But what she saw next was best described as her worst nightmare. Lisanna was sprawled on the ground, red bloods were painting her whole figure, her eyes stared weakly at her. She looked lifeless, like a broken antique doll._

" _LISANNA!"_

 _She was hysterical. Never had she seen anything more terrifying in her entire life._

 _She wanted to reach her, protect her, hold her hand and tell her everything will be alright because she was here with her, she wanted so badly, yet she did nothing. Nothing at all. It was like there was an invisible bind restricting her, forbidding her limb from making any single movement. She tried to break free with all the power she had, but to no avail. She could only watch her and sob._

" _I'm sorry, Lisanna... I'm so sorry..." she mumbled through her sobs. She couldn't believe how weak she was. She couldn't believe there was nothing she could do except to watch the horrible scene._

" _You failed, Mira-nee. You failed to protect me."  
_

 _She gasped at the dark words. The blame she threw at her was too overwhelming._

" _You're useless."  
_

" _NO! STOP IT!"_

 _She couldn't take it. She shut her eyes closed, hoping that it all would stop and everything would go back to normal. But when she opened them again, Lisanna suddenly appeared standing in front of her, looking like a ghost in her nightmare._

" _YOU'RE THE WORST!"_

* * *

Mirajane shut her eyes tightly as she told Natsu the last part of her dream. At the end of her story, her voice had become thick due to holding back the bile inside her throat. She was trying her best not to break. Ever since Lisanna's death, she turned from mighty and powerful to weak and fragile in a snap of a finger. She knew well that everyone had taken a pity on her. Hell, even she pitied herself. But her pride and ego had gone over the road that she didn't care if she looked pathetic anymore. She had stopped caring about a lot of things which made her life simpler now. Everyday, she would wake up and just try to go through the day without breaking into million pieces.

Throughout the story, Natsu was listening intently to her. Never had once he interrupted her, nor did he say a thing. He merely nodded, frowned, and showed her a sympathetic expression. But with Natsu, it wasn't like everyone else. He didn't show her the look of pity, instead, he showed her _empathy._ There was a huge difference between the two.

Pity could be shown by anyone. They understand your situation but wouldn't be there to help you get through it. They would only watch from the sidelines, thinking "What a poor guy!" but then leave you to fend for yourself, not bothering to get themselves involved in your problem. While empathy is in another level. People who show empathy don't just watch over you from afar, thinking that you could somehow fix your mess alone—no. They would approach you, reach out for your hand, and be the light that guide you through your own chaos. They would show a deep condolences over what happened to you and they would try to understand you by picturing themselves in your current situation. That's empathy.

Right now, he was showing her empathy. It wasn't pity, she knew it. Just from his gaze, she could tell that it was different from the rest of the people, and he acted like her well-being was as much important as his own.

His hand went up and gently rub the top of her head, catching her off guard. She stared back wide-eyed at him. "Don't worry, it's just a dream. Lisanna loved you, she would never say such things to you." He smiled softly. "They are not true, all the things she said in your dreams. There is nothing you can do when it comes to fate. She didn't die because you failed to protect her, it was because she was destined to be. Don't pressure yourself with nonsense self-blame."

Mirajane couldn't hold it anymore. A single tear escaped from her right eye, effectively breaking the dam of self-control she had been trying hard to restrain. She let another tear fell from her other eye before wiping them away with the back of her hand.

She chuckled bitterly. "I'm sorry. I tried so hard not to break but I can't. I hate how I always look weak in front of you."

He smirked. "Don't worry. Everyone could be weak at some point."

"But you're right," she continued. "I don't know what I did to deserve a best friend like you. I can never thank you enough for helping me through this."

When she smiled her genuine smile, once again it warmed his heart the same way it did during his visit to her house a month ago. It also melted him that she actually called him her best friend when he thought she saw him nothing more than a mere guildmate she liked to bully. His heart rate had gone unwittingly twice faster than its usual rhythm. But he managed to keep his cool.

"I'm just doing my job." He shrugged nonchalantly, ignoring his chest which was still thumping loudly.

She giggled. It sounded angelic to his ears. "And you're doing it _very_ well."

"Hey, Mira." He raked his wild pink hair, trying to keep his composure. "I think you need to breathe some fresh air, like go out of town for a bit to clear your mind. I know this whole event weigh you down greatly, and being here could surely stress you out. I say, let's pick out one job request and do it together. Just to clear your mind off these things."

Her eyes went wide. "A—A job? I don't think I'm ready for that yet..."

"Come on, it will be fun! It's been a month already, don't you think it's time for you to go back to your old, normal life again?"

"I—I do, but..." She sighed. "I don't know, Natsu. I'm just not sure."

Truthfully, she had many doubts in her mind on starting to do jobs again. She was incredibly traumatized by what happened on the last job. She was scared that everything might go wrong again, scared that she wouldn't be able to keep those she cared about away from danger, scared that she would make mistakes again. Doing that last S-Class job was a dreadful mistake she made, and she had to pay an absolutely terrible price for it. She was willing to give or do _anything_ in order to prevent that kind of incident from happening _ever_ again.

"Trust me, Mira. It's for your own good." His onyx eyes looked straight at her blue ones, his expression serious now. "You can't stay like this forever. I hate to see you looking so weak and frail all the time. Believe it or not, I like it better when you used to insult and hit me around."

Her eyebrow was arched high. She was clearly surprised. "You're joking, right?"

The said guy laughed. "Hey, it's true. Anything is better than seeing you sad like this. So what do you say? I'll let you pick the mission."

Regardless of everything that had happened, she knew she had to go back to her old life eventually. And not only that, she could have a peace of mind she currently needed. Her mind would be too distracted by the mission to think about Lisanna and those awful nightmares. Natsu was right, she had to do this.

"Alright then. Let's go on a job."

He grinned happily. "Awesome! Come on, let's pick out a request!"

Mirajane was practically being dragged down across the guild hall by the over-excited dragon slayer. All eyes in the guild were on them, some even had their jaw hung low from the sight of the mighty—even though not so mighty anymore—Demon of Fairy Tail and the dragon slayer together, _especially_ when the mighty Demon was being dragged violently by the said dragon slayer.

Curiously, Cana nudged Elfman who happened to stand next to her. "Is there something going on between them?"

"No!" he exclaimed furiously. "There is nothing between them." He wished it was true, but he knew better than that. But he, however, didn't want to believe it himself.

"Man, that Natsu. How come he could still be alive after holding Mira's hand like that?" He heard Wakaba's comment from the bar.

Macao nodded, agreeing. "He's got balls. Though Mira is different now. Maybe she is fine with that kind of things now."

 _I've seen worse..._ Elfman added to himself. The mental image of her sister and Natsu on the bed together hit him once more, making him shudder. Those image _did_ burn into his retina.

"Let's see..." Natsu rubbed his chin with his thumb and index finger, analyzing the requests on board. "What about this one: exterminate ghosts in Lakeside Village?"

Mirajane almost snorted. To her, the request sounded ridiculous. "What, they think we're some kind of ghost hunter?"

"You're right, it's stupid." He chuckled, then his eyes caught another request. "Oh, oh! This one sounds good: evict the local town bandits in Daffodil Town. It won't be much of a work, and I'm itching for a fight. Let's go for this one!"

She pouted. "I thought you'd let me pick..."

"Oh, right. Sorry, Mira." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly, flashing her an apologetic smile.

The Demon was more amused with his antics, so she smiled too. "Okay, so this will be just a warm-up job, so I suggest we pick something that doesn't require _too much_ fighting and something that's not so exhausting."

"But capturing bandits doesn't require too much fighting!"

"I know, but I'm just not in the mood to deal with some bandits."

"Alright, fine. So what is exactly do you want?"

She hummed her musing aloud, scanning through the job requests again. Her eyes caught one request that was pinned underneath the other papers, and she snatched it off. "Ten thousand jewels for gathering up bergamots in Vermount Mountain? Not bad."

"What the hell are bergamots?"

"Apparently they are sort of herbal medicine used to cure hay fever that is currently plaguing the local village," she read the request aloud. Smiling, she showed the request paper to him. "Let's do this one."

"What's the fun in picking up plants in the mountain?" the dragon slayer whined, already having a mental image of how the job would end up, which is boring. His muscles were really itching for some good fight.

"It _will_ be. If it's not, we'll find a way to make it fun."

"But—"

She pushed her index finger onto his lips. "No buts. We are doing this job. Period."

She shoved the job request into his chest and walked away, leaving no room for him to argue.

Holding the paper, he read its title vehemently. "Help wanted: Gather up bergamots in Vermount Mountain for ten thousand jewels. That's a pretty damn lot of money to pay for gathering some freaking herbal medicine." He flipped over the paper several times, finding nothing more interesting, then shrugged dismissively. "Whatever, as long as I get a high pay for such a boring task."

Stuffing the paper inside his pocket, he turned around to see an unhappy looking Elfman standing on the other side of the hall, arms folded and his strong gaze was fixated on him. Natsu held his hands in the air in a questioning manner. "What's up?"

Elfman strode over to him, eyes never leaving his. Pointing his finger, he warned dangerously, "I'm watching you, Natsu. Keep that in mind."

Realizing what it was all about, he chuckled. "Relax big guy, I got this. I will protect her with all my life." He smirked, giving the younger Strauss a friendly pat on his chest.

"If anything happen to her, I swear to god—"

"Yeah, yeah. You can chop my head or skin me alive or whatever you want, because that ain't happening."

The beast take-over mage was slightly irritated at how lightly Natsu was taking this matter. Ever since he lost his younger sister, he felt the need to protect what was left of his small family at all cost. Not that he didn't have that kind of responsibility before, but losing Lisanna had drastically risen his overprotective instinct. But knowing Natsu, he shouldn't be worried. He knew him, he wouldn't let anyone hurt her. He knew he would protect her as much as he would. He trusted him, he really did, but he just wanted him to take this matter more seriously so that he could have a peace of mind when they are away.

"Natsu, I'm serious. Man up and take this matter seriously would you?"

"I am serious," the dragon slayer said. His gaze was firm, and Elfman knew now that indeed he wasn't joking around. "When I made a promise, I won't break it. Trust me, I will bring her back home alive and safe and sound."

Hearing his well-said and well-pronounced declaration made Elfman's hunched shoulder relaxed. He exhaled a long breath through his nose, finally feeling that he really could trust him on this. He had nothing to worry about.

"I was waiting for you to say that. I trust her life with you, please take care of her." His tone was gentler now, and he flashed a faint smile.

Natsu nodded firmly. "I will, don't worry."

* * *

 **Author's note:** I'm back with the second chapter! Sorry it took me long enough because I was busy with a school event for the past two weeks which required me to stay longer at school and went home at almost night, so yeah. Anyway, I was surprised to see such numbers of follows and favs in the span of only one chapter! Thank you you all! Especially for those who had left me reviews hehe. I love you guys.

I made a small change in this story. Earlier I put this story in Hurt/Comfort category, but decided to change it into Tragedy cosidering the plot I have in mind falls more into tha category. Yeah, I guarantee you there will be plenty of sadness, tears, sorrow, etc. Still interested in continuing? That'd make me happy. Or have you lost your appetite? Alrighty then, feel free to click another story that interest you.

Feedbacks and criticisms are always appreciated. So, review review review!


	3. Bonding

**2\. Bonding**

* * *

"What are we doing here?"

They had arrived at Magnolia train station to begin their journey to Vermount Mountain. Mirajane decided they should take the train since the location was considerably far from Magnolia Town. She had made calculations beforehand that it would take them approximately seven hours to reach their destination by train, and another three hours of horse-carriage-riding, according to the map she brought with her. It would be a long journey, but it was nothing she hadn't experienced before.

Hearing her travel companion's odd question, she gave him a strange look as if he had grown another head. "To ride the train, of course."

Natsu's eyes widen in horror. He had had suspicions when he followed her down to what seemed to be the path to the station, but he chose to ignore it. He figured maybe she just had to buy something from the store _near_ the station. And now, his fears had come to a reality. "Wait, wait, we are going _by train_?"

"Well, yes. Is there any problem with that?"

Folding his arms, he shook his head sternly. There was no way he would start this whole mission by dying. "No, no. I am _not_ going anywhere in that monstrous, mind-numbing, gut-wrenching, soul-crushing, walking metal."

Happy, who was flying above his head, burst out laughing at his partner's exaggeration, whilst Mirajane stared at him as if he had grown another head _and_ another pair of arms.

"Natsu, what are you talking about? Riding a train doesn't kill you," she tried to reason with his nonsense. Her mind couldn't comprehend all this fuss he was babbling about train. She thought he was being utterly preposterous.

"It does! It kills me every time I ride on it!" he exclaimed as if it could answer her confusions, yet it only did otherwise.

Now she was sure she brought a crazy teammate on board.

"Natsu has motion sickness," Happy answered for him, and her eyes widened at the realization.

"You have motion sickness?" she echoed in disbelief. She had never thought someone who always claimed to be strong and challenged her all the time actually had a certain weakness as petty as _motion sickness._ It was almost more embarrassing than having fear of cockroaches, which she had, by the way. But in her defense, she was a _girl_ and cockroaches were truly the most disgusting creature on earth. So she didn't see that having that fear was something she should be ashamed of. But _motion sickness_? That's on a whole new level.

This whole idea was laughable for her, which made her chuckle. When she couldn't hold it anymore, she cracked up.

"W—What's so funny about it?! You don't know how much I suffer every time I ride one!"

"Sorry." She calmed herself down, and wiped away a single drop of tear from her right eye. "I never knew you had it in you."

Natsu huffed. "Yeah, the perks of being me."

"But come on, it couldn't be _that_ bad," she encouraged. "Besides, it will take forever for us to get there without train."

"You have no idea how bad it is, Mira..." Happy seconded. Being the dragon slayer's partner for years, they had gone to numerous jobs together and sure enough, he had seen plenty images of his partner's pathetic motion-sickness-state. And it didn't look pretty.

Natsu was silent. He stole a glance at the train, and he could already feel the bile involuntarily rising up to his throat, which earned a pity look from Mirajane. "H—How long we will be inside _that_ thing?"

"Umm... seven hours?" she replied skeptically. "Can you manage that?"

She was expecting him to shout at her, or faint, or even worse, selfishly canceling the whole mission. However, he was surprisingly being cooperative. Instead of doing the aforementioned things, he gave her a painful expression, but complied nonetheless.

"This job is better be worth it." She heard him muttered grumpily to himself, which tugged a small smile to her lips. She was slightly moved knowing that he was willing to make some sort of sacrifice for her sake.

They bought their tickets, and entered the train right away. Finding their seats, they filled the empty spots. Mirajane told Natsu that he would probably feel better if he choose to sit near the window, which according to both himself and Happy was pointless since they had tried that method before. It didn't make him feel less awful during that state.

The train started moving, slowly at first, but its speed gradually increased until it reached a certain point of constant speed, though the dragon slayer had been helpless ever since the train made its very first movement. Right now, he was sprawled pathetically across the seat, moaning painfully, and on top of that, he had to hold back the urge to vomit every five minutes.

"I—I think I'm g—going to die..." he writhed painfully, his eyes shut closed. Beads of sweat were streaming down on his face.

Happy smiled sympathetically. "Hang on for another six hours, Natsu."

The dragon slayer snorted weakly at the horribly failed attempt to comfort him.

Mirajane watched worriedly from across him. She had never thought that this motion sickness thing was that much of a serious issue for him. Just by riding a train he already looked like he was suffering from a bullet shot. Hell, he probably handled being shot a lot better than this. She felt a pang of regret at how she made fun of his problems earlier. She wanted to help him like the way he helped her during her most fragile state. She wanted to help him to get through this like he guided her to the light during her darkest moments. He had been an amazing friend to her, and now she wanted to return the favor. She would try to help him as much as she could and in the best way possible.

Rising up, she left her seat with Happy and walked over to sit beside him. She lifted his head and placed him gently on her lap.

Through gritted teeth, he asked weakly, "Wh—what are y—you doing?"

"Sshh," she shushed him, trying to soothe his pain by stroking his head delicately. She was surprised to find that his wild pink locks were actually as soft as that of a cat's fur, especially for a guy's hair. She found it very cute.

As minutes passed by, Natsu was no longer groaning or gritting his teeth. His breathing wasn't ragged anymore, which was clearly seen from his calm body posture. But when he didn't move a single muscle, she was beginning to get suspicious.

"Natsu?" she called softly. But there was no response. She lightly shook his shoulder, yet still nothing happened. A small smile crept up to her face upon the realization. "He's asleep, huh."

"Mira, you're amazing..."

Turning to the blue cat, she merely shrugged at him as she was surprised herself. "I didn't do anything."

"Natsu has never _ever_ fell asleep on a train before, and you successfully made him so." His eyes sparkled with amazement when they met hers. This was clearly a new sight for him, seeing his partner resting peacefully during a train ride. He made a mental note to involve Mirajane in their job more frequently in the future to prevent himself from hearing all the dragon slayer's pathetic groan and writhing during his motion-sickness-state.

"Did you use a sleep magic on him?"

She shook her head. "All I did was stroking his head."

"Maybe you should go on more jobs with us, so we can travel around with vehicles easily. It's beneficial for both of us, I don't have to hear his wails, and he doesn't have to suffer every time either."

The Take-Over mage chuckled. "We will see that in the future. If this job is successfully done, maybe I will consider recruiting you guys as my new partners."

"Wow, that's so cool! Natsu will be happy once he hear this." He grinned happily. The idea of partnering up with one of the strongest female mage in Fairy Tail made him excited. Working alongside strong mages made him feel like he was one of them, like he was seen by people as equal. It didn't matter if he was just a cat, he wanted to be noticed too.

Seeing the look on the exceed's face, Mirajane smiled too. He was such an adorable little thing.

She continued with her task at hand, which was stroking the dragon slayer's scalp. She liked how every time she combed his hair backward, they would instantly bounce back to their original state. She couldn't mess his hair no matter how hard she try. It was like they were already structured to be in a certain messy condition.

As she stared down at his sleeping face, she couldn't stop herself from pinching his cheek, so she did. He was too adorable to resist. It reminded her of the times she used to adore him when he cried. Deep inside, she still did actually. But sleeping Natsu was different. This was the first time she saw him asleep, and she found him even more adorable than crying Natsu.

He stirred in his sleep and groaned, his face showed that of a painful one. When she released him, his facial expression returned back and he was back to his peaceful slumber.

The Demon giggled to herself, and continued stroking.

* * *

 _Sweet._

That was the first thought that came to his mind by the time he awoke from his sleep. Why? Because his nostrils were greeted by the mixture of vanilla and rose scent. It was nice. He didn't know where it came from but he liked it. He opened his eyes and he was met with the bluest orbs he had ever seen in his life. They were beautiful deep blue, and they were staring down at him. From the moment he saw them, he instantly knew who they belonged to.

"Good afternoon, Natsu." Mirajane giggled. "Did you get enough sleep?"

He blinked twice. His slow brain still didn't understand why the girl suddenly appeared above him like that. The last thing he remembered was he was struggling to stay alive in this goddamn train. But when he thought about it, he was confused of how could he fall asleep in the first place. Usually, he could hardly maintain his brain to think straight, let alone sleeping. So what exactly happened?

"Yeah, plenty. Where are we?" he mumbled through his yawn. It surprised him even more that he actually had a good sleep.

"We just arrived at Valencia Train Station. We're getting closer to Vermount Mountain."

He didn't pay full attention at what she was saying since he was busy scratching his head and trying to get his mind to work properly. "Yeah, uh... what did you give me?"

She knitted her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"Did you cast a sleep magic on me? Because I don't usually sleep on train."

"Oh, that." She chuckled, her eyes showing mischievous gleam. "Apparently, my thighs are so comfortable you fell asleep on them. And under my skillful touch too, of course. Can you believe you slept for six hours straight?"

He blinked again. Once, twice. It was then he realized that all this time it was because he was resting on her lap that he was able to sleep so peacefully. He never knew resting on someone else's lap could feel so comfortable. It took him back to the time when Mirajane slept on his, she looked very content in her sleep as well. Now he understood why.

He sat up since his body started to feel sore. "What? I slept throughout the whole train ride?" He stared at her in disbelief mixed with amazement. "That's impossible."

She nodded surely. "But that's what really happened. Right, Happy?"

"Aye! You slept like a baby, Natsu." The blue cat clasped his paws together and tilted his head to the side, mimicking a sleeping baby's gesture.

If that was the truth, the power she delivered to him must have worked like wonder, because he admitted, that was the tightest sleep he had had in a while. "Wow, that's amazing. You should come with us more often and keep doing what you're doing. It would really help me in this kind of situation."

"Aye! That's what I told her," Happy chirped in. "She said if we succeed in this mission, she would recruit us as her partners."

"For real? That's so cool! I would love to be your partner, Mira!"

For one's ear—or precisely, _his_ ear—it might sound like a mere statement, but unfortunately, that wasn't what came into her mind when the word 'partner' met her eardrums. Somehow, her mind confused that word for 'partner in love' as in _lover_ rather than what was supposed to be 'a teammate'. And it successfully made her cheeks turned crimson.

Happy tilted his head slightly, inspecting her. "Why is Mira's face red?"

Before anything goes more awkward, she quickly tried to regain her composure. She forced her brain to think quickly, and she came up with a lame reply. "Ah, yes. Of course, it would be great." Clearing her throat, she looked away to hide her flushing face. "Let's go now."

The three of them were the last ones who exited the train. The entire coach had been cleared out, leaving them the only people who were still in there. Once they stepped out of the train, Mirajane pulled out a map from her backpack and studied their route.

"According to this map, we should head to the north. The mountain is only three hours away from here, while the village is two. We'll make a stop there first," she briefed her travel companions without leaving her eyes off the map in her hand.

"So what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Natsu said excitedly.

* * *

"T—Thank god, it's over..."

The no longer energized dragon slayer stumbled out of the wagon looking like his life had been sucked out of his body. His face was still slightly pale, and the urge to throw up was still somewhere in there. But overall, he was fine and was feeling tremendously better than before. He did receive help from resting on Mirajane's lap again, but this time it was different. He slept too long on the last ride he couldn't bring himself to close his eyes even just for seconds. He ended up wide awake throughout the whole ride and suffering from all of his usual symptoms. Although thanks to her, the pain was eased away every time her fingertips softly stroked his head. It was a content feeling; resting on her thighs, getting gentle stroke every second. And he silently liked—no, loved it.

He knelt on the ground, threw his hands up in the air in gratitude, and whispered, "I'm finally alive again!"

Mirajane who had just got out of the wagon as well, witnessed his whole antics and commented, "You're being over dramatic."

"The whole ride was awful! I never want to ride on any kind of vehicles _ever_ again."

"We all know that is impossible, Natsu," Happy said from above his head. "Sooner or later, you'll have to."

Rising up from the ground, he shrugged his partner off. "Whatever, Happy."

Walking a few steps forward, the Demon observed the newfound surroundings and declared to her friends. "Well, this is the village guys. Let's not waste our time and start this job."

All eyes were on them as they walked along the streets of the village. Everyone noticed that they were the wizards who were sent there to help them, which earned them a genuinely welcomed treatment. The headman told them that the villagers had been suffering from a chronic hay fever for months. They had called in many doctors, but all of them said the same thing; that they needed plenty of bergamots in order to make a cure for the disease. And the said plant could only be found up in the mountain. They had sent off a group of people months ago, but they never returned. As well as the search group that was sent afterward. None of them came back.

"That's why need your help," The headman concluded as he finished briefing them. "To gather up the bergamots and to search for the missing people. We promise to give your reward in the form of ten thousand jewels as soon as the three of you return."

Mirajane hummed thoughtfully, studying the mission details inside her brain.

"No problem, old man. We could certainly do this," Natsu assured him confidently. He had never failed any of his jobs before, and he was more than sure that he wouldn't fail on this one either.

"Aye!" Happy agreed cheerfully.

The old man nodded his head and flashed them a smile full of gratitude. "Thank you, Fairy Tail wizards. Be careful out there. You never know what nature has in store for you."

The dragon slayer smirked a little too smugly. "We were born ready for anything."

* * *

"I guess, you don't get ten thousand jewels for nothing," Mirajane said slowly as they started hiking.

She had come to a realization that this request wasn't as simple as what it seemed on the paper. What she wanted was a relaxed back-to-work mission, and instead, in this mission her strength and power were crucially required in order to fight off any possible obstacles. Next time, she had to remind herself not to be fooled by high reward jobs.

As soon as they left the headman's office, they wasted no time to begin the mission since Natsu was all fired up and more than ready to face anything that was going to happen, and Happy was no less enthusiastic. That left Mirajane to merely keep up with their excessive stamina.

"I hope we will encounter something up there, like a monster or something." He was hyped up, jumping up excitedly and demonstrating his punching style into thin air from time to time.

"I hope there will be fish! Big fish!" Happy chirped in, his eyes sparkling as he imagined a giant fish waiting for him on the top of the mountain. He could practically feel his mouth started to water.

"What do you think we will find there, Mira?" the pink haired asked, turning his head to her.

"I don't know. I hope it's not something so dangerous."

"Relax, Mira. You don't have to worry about anything, I got your back." He flashed his trademark toothy grin. "I vowed to Elfman that I would protect you with all my life."

She raised her eyebrows in surprise. That wasn't something she expected. "You did?"

"Yeah. He got all protective of you when he knew that we're going on a job together. And I couldn't leave him alone without giving some kind of reassurance, so I did."

"Well, you better hold onto your vow tightly. I'm more handful to look after than you know," she joked, but it seemed that the dragon slayer didn't realize that judging from the serious look on his face.

He stared at her with his piercing onyx eyes. She could almost see her own reflection in them. "Of course. A man should stick to his words."

She didn't know what happened. She didn't know how he did it. But when he said those words, a foreign feeling suddenly rose within her. Somehow, she felt warm and safe. It had been years since the last time she felt safe. Ever since her parents death, the word 'safe' had been wiped out of her dictionary. She didn't get to feel safe. Instead, she had the duty to keep _others_ safe, that being her younger siblings. But right now, Natsu made her feel safe, and it was a content feeling she enjoyed.

The Demon smiled sincerely, showing how grateful she was to have him. "Natsu, I appreciate it. I really do. It's nice to know that I have someone else looking out for me. But you don't need to do that, I can take care of myself quite well."

He shrugged casually. "I don't mind it. It's my job to keep you safe. Besides," he stopped mid-sentence to smirk. "It's not like I can live peacefully without making sure that you're okay."

She felt the heat rising up to her cheek for the second time of the day. She had blushed so much today she should stop it. Stupid girl hormones. "That's so sweet of you."

"Guys, I'm tired," Happy moaned as his body felt heavier under his wings. His half-lidded eyes were no longer focused that if he let them closed for just a second, he would instantly fall asleep.

"Happy is right. It's getting dark, we should stop and rest," she agreed, silently thanking the exceed for the distraction. The air was getting slightly awkward around them.

Natsu looked around them before pointing at a cave. "There! We could stay there for the night."

By the time they reached the cave, Happy had lost his consciousness on the top of his partner's pink head. He couldn't sustain his sleepiness any longer he had fallen asleep during the hike. His loud snore was a proof they had had a long and tiring day.

Mirajane rubbed her arms together as she entered the cave with them. "It's a bit chilly up here, isn't it?" As if on cue, the cold breeze blew upon their direction from the outside which made her shiver.

Natsu released his heavy backpack from his shoulder and dropped it on the ground. "I don't feel anything."

She rolled her eyes, forgetting the obvious. "Of course you don't, you're a Fire Dragon Slayer. Cold doesn't bother you."

He chuckled as he started to unpack his backpack. "It sucks to be you." He carefully placed his buddy on the bundle of warm blanket he brought with him.

"Thanks," she replied sarcastically.

"Wait here, I'm going to fetch some logs."

As she waited for him, she unloaded her backpack as well and unfolded her sleeping bag. She regretted not bringing a jacket with her since the air was getting colder all the while the sky turned darker.

A few minutes later, Natsu returned with a couple of logs in hands. He set them up in the middle of the cave and burned them effortlessly, which earned a content sigh from Mirajane.

"Ahh, it feels so much better now." She scooted closer to the fire, slowly feeling the warmth spreading against her exposed skin.

"You shouldn't have worn so little clothes in the first place," he commented, observing her current attire which only consisted of her usual halter crop top, mini skirt and thigh-high boots. "Not to be rude or anything, but I'm sure that's not the best outfit to use in a mountain hike."

For the first time in forever, she felt that her clothes were incredibly revealing. Partly because she was freezing, and another part was because he was looking at her in the way that made her feel uncomfortable. He wasn't ogling her though, she would have punched him square in the face if he was. His gaze were intense and somewhat... judging.

"I wasn't thinking. The cold doesn't usually get to me like this."

"Are you feeling warm enough now?"

She shrugged her right shoulder. "Yeah, it's fine. It will be warmer once I get into my sleeping bag anyway." Realizing something, she looked around and frowned. "Where is yours?"

"What? Sleeping bag? I don't need one. I can just sleep on the ground."

"But it's like _so_ cold... " she trailed off. Then a crazy idea popped into her mind. Just by thought of it was enough to make her face grew a couple of shades darker. But she just didn't want him to catch a cold or something, which could lead to the failure of their mission, even when she knew that the possibility of that to happen wasn't any bigger than a chestnut.

"W—We could share my sleeping bag. I—I mean, mine is pretty big. I think it could, y—you know, fit both of us."

Natsu stared at her in silence, his expression was unreadable. Little did she know that deep inside, his heart was thumping wildly and uncontrollably. But he tried hard to keep his composure. This feeling was new and foreign to him, and it was similar to the feeling he got when he visited her after Lisanna's death, the very first time he started to notice her beauty. Though his heart wasn't pounding as crazy as it was right now. When he saw her that day, it was as if his heart stopped beating for a nanosecond before it returned to normal again. What was happening to him?

Trying to act as normal as he could, he smiled and waved a dismissive hand. "Nah, it's cool. I can manage sleeping on the ground. You don't have to worry about me."

"Are you sure?"

He nodded. "Positive. Just go to sleep, Mira."

"Okay," she replied, sliding her body deep into the warmth of her sleeping bag. Inside, she rustled, trying to find the best position to sleep in, until she finally settled lying on her side which granted her the side view of the brooding dragon slayer.

"Hey, Natsu?"

He turned to her and replied, "Yeah?"

"Thanks for everything. I honestly don't know what I would do without you. Maybe I wouldn't have gotten over Lisanna's death at all even after one month of the incident, or ever. I'm truly glad to have such a great friend like you. What did I do to deserve you?" He could see the faint smile on her face through the silhouette the fire was creating.

"You don't have to thank me for anything. You deserve the best of what life could offer you, and I will never hesitate to help you reach that. I love helping you, and I will forever do it as long as I'm still alive and breathing."

Hearing his words, she felt the familiar sting on her eyes. She cursed herself for always being so emotional in front of him and tried hard to hold back the tears that was threatening to fall. "Stop being so nice to me, Natsu."

"Not in a million years." He reached out to pull her sleeping bag up to her chin, and smiled softly at her. "Goodnight, Mirajane."

"Goodnight, dragon."


	4. Recollecting Memories

**3\. Recollecting Memories**

* * *

The sound of the rustling and zipper-closing woke him up. By the time he opened his eyes, Mirajane was seen already folding and packing up her belongings. Natsu rubbed his sleepy eyes before sitting up from his sleeping spot on the ground. Realizing a foreign weight over him, his eyes instinctively traveled down and was surprised to find that a thick blanket was draped upon his body. No wonder he felt so warm.

"Oh, you're awake," Mirajane said, smiling. "Good morning, Natsu."

"Morning, Mira," he mumbled sleepily. He yawned before lifting the blanket up with his thumb and index finger. "Is this yours?"

"Oh yes, I almost forgot about it. Can you give it back?" She received the blanket with her extended hand, and explained, "I don't want you to catch a cold or something by sleeping on the cold ground like that. You could have at least cover the ground with something!"

He blinked twice. "I thought I told you cold doesn't bother me, but thanks anyway, Mira. It was actually quite helpful."

"Well, it _did_ bother me to see you sleep without anything on, but you're welcome anyway," she retorted as she shoved the thick material into her already full backpack.

The dragon slayer smiled at the thought that Mirajane actually cared about his well-being. Thinking about it, a strange warmth feeling washed over him. He never thought that one simple gesture from her could mean so much to him. Maybe it wouldn't highly affect him if it was someone else, but with Mirajane everything was different. She could do something as small as smiling at him and he would forever remember it. It took him to the time when she showed him her first sincere smile during her breakdown. The picture was perfectly captured in his brain, and whenever he thought about it, it caused a weird feeling deep in his stomach. Though it was pleasant in a way.

While on the other hand, the said Demon was feeling uncomfortably hot under his gaze and the additional weird smile grazing his face. "Wh—why are you looking at me like that?"

"Nothing. I just thought that you've been very nice to me lately."

"Do you prefer me bullying you?"

"No! I like you better like this."

A smile crept up to her lips. "Really? Do you think I'm a better person now?"

He held his palm in front of her. "Don't get me wrong, you've always been a great person from the start, even with your old attitude. But yeah, I think you're much better now."

Her smile curled even wider. Now it was her turn to feel butterflies in her stomach. It was strange how simple words from him could make such impact on her.

Unfortunately, the sweet moment was immediately ruined by Happy's loud yawn.

"Come here big fishy..." he mumbled, before snoring back to sleep.

"Happy," Natsu called. When he got no response, he tried again. "Wake up, buddy."

"One more minute..." he mumbled again, raising a finger, which questioned both mages whether he was really asleep.

The dragon slayer decided to take a further step. He approached the sleeping exceed and shook his tiny body mercilessly. "Wake up sleepyhead, we gotta work!"

However, despite the violent shaking and the loud scream, the gesture only made his snore grew louder.

Natsu sighed in frustration. "You're such a pain in the ass."

"I HEARD THAT!"

As if struck by a lightning, Happy's eyes shot open and glaring angrily at his partner now. He threw an accusing finger at him. "I can't believe you said that after everything I've done to you!"

"What got you all so worked up for? I didn't even mean it."

"Lies! I know you meant it! I can't believe you, Natsu, I've been nothing but nice to you since day one!"

"What's the big deal? I was only joking!"

"But it hurt me!"

"Alright, fine! I'm sorry."

"Apology unaccepted!"

"What do you mean unaccepted?!"

As the bicker went on, Mirajane merely watched the two with an amused smile tugging at her lips. It wasn't a rare sight for her, in fact, they had done this thousand of times before at the guild. They might be best friends, but of course every friendship has its ups and downs. They didn't agree on a lot of things, which mostly ended up in a pointless argument like this one. But in the end, they still need each other. Even if they end up mad at each other, neither of them could hold grudge. They would eventually mend things up sooner or later. And this one wasn't an exception.

She inwardly debated whether she should step in or not, seeing now the dragon slayer and the exceed refused to look at each other. She found it amusing how childish both of them acted. In the end, she decided to just shrug it off.

 _They will come around, eventually,_ she thought. Looking at the angry partners, suddenly, a certain memory hit her and her mind was forced to wander to a couple of years back.

* * *

 _Year X778_

 _The majority of Fairy Tail kids were listening intently to Natsu as he told them the story of how he was found and raised by his father, Igneel the Fire Dragon. Nobody made a noise as they were too caught up in the story, some even had their mouth agape in awe. However, his preposterous story didn't impress_ all _of them._

 _A certain dark haired boy had a bored look plastered to his face as he, too, listened along with the others. Whenever Natsu tell them the amazing things Igneel could do or taught him, everyone made an "aah" or "ooh" noise, occasionally asking him questions as they anticipated what would happen next. On the other hand, Gray merely scoffed or made an inaudible comment such as "liar" and "that's impossible" throughout those times._

 _Right now, the dragon slayer was currently telling them the time where he traveled around to some awesome places with his beloved dragon, and Gray couldn't help but rolled his eyes in annoyance at how he thought that Natsu was only exaggerating things. Much to his surprise, he heard a loud yawn from beside him, as if the owner of the voice was doing it on purpose to mock the story teller. He turned to his side and found out it was Mirajane._

" _Gosh, Natsu, can't you make up something more entertaining than this?" she asked derisively. All eyes instantly directed to her, even Natsu himself had stopped, a deep scowl on his face._

" _You see, your little fairytale isn't as fascinating. To be honest, Gray and I are bored to death here. We want something_ real, _not some sort of made-up story, right Gray?"_

 _His body tensed at the mention of his name. He might not believe his story, he might be making rude remarks about it, hell, he might even dislike the boy, but he had no intentions on confronting him in front of the others like this. He would probably do it later when they were alone, but nothing such as public humiliations. On top of that, Mirajane was involved in this, and he was scared to death with the goth that he wanted nothing to do with her._

 _His mouth opened and closed as he struggled to find his voice. "Uhh... um... I..."  
_

 _The Demon gave a fake encouraging pat on his shoulder. "It's all right to tell him the truth, Gray. He needs to hear some critics so that he could improve his story-making ability."_

" _That's not very nice, Mira," Erza scolded, a disapproving look on her face at her rival's behavior. "Natsu isn't making up stories. If he said that his father is a Fire Dragon, then so be it. I believe him."_

 _She placed a hand to her chest, feigning a look of surprise. "I'm surprised how foolish you can be, Erza. I thought you were smart enough and well aware that dragons don't exist."_

" _Dragons_ did _exist! Don't tell me otherwise because I know better than that! I was raised by one!" the dragon slayer shouted, hurt and anger flickered in his eyes. He had had enough of the rude remarks telling him that the existence of his beloved dragon and father was nothing but a lie._

 _Silence engulfed in the guild hall as everyone watched the two held a strong staring contest. Minutes passed by, and no one dared to make a noise, until Mirajane decided to break the deafening silence._

" _That's bullcrap," she muttered under her breath, but to his keen senses, it was loud and well-pronounced._

 _His small fists balled up and his jaw tightened. Everyone could see he was holding back so much anger. Erza stood guarded, ready to separate them if any fight ever occur, Gray darted his eyes back and forth between the two with a newfound interest, while Mirajane merely kept her steady gaze on her foe, anticipating an upcoming attack and ready to fight back._

 _But instead, what he did next was out of everyone's expectation. He turned his tiny body around and stalked away, pushing everyone out of his way and leaving Mirajane standing rooted on the same spot, frowning at the small back as his figure exited the guild._

 _Unbeknownst to them, a single tear managed to escape his eye and trailed down his cheek._

* * *

As they started hiking once again, Mirajane was continuously disturbed by nagging guilt inside her. The memory struck her rapid and clear as crystal, resurrecting unwanted emotions. She couldn't believe she said those cruel things to him. Of all the insults she had thrown at him, that was by far, the most despicable. She remembered that she actually half-believed him, but she was just probably trying to get his attention or something as foolish as that. Now that she was different, she realized that she acted so childish back then. She was ashamed of herself.

With the guilt still eating her away, she glanced at the dragon slayer's back in front of her. He was chatting animatedly with the blue exceed, as if the earlier fight never happened at all. Gathering up her courage, she sped up until she was walking alongside them.

"Natsu, I need to tell you something."

Natsu turned his attention to her, and his gaze somehow softened upon seeing her. She briefly wondered if she was imagining things, but quickly put that thought aside. Right now, she needed to settle things with him, in order to erase any sort of possible buried hatred within him.

"What's up, Mira?"

She inhaled, and whispered those two words ever so softly, "I'm sorry..."

He caught the hint of sadness and guilt in her words, but he didn't understand it. She didn't do anything wrong, and he didn't blame her for anything either. He furrowed his eyebrows in genuine confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I'm truly sorry if I ever hurt your feelings. I—I was stupid back then, and I didn't know what I was doing. I said mean things that I wasn't supposed to because I wasn't thinking." Her eyes glistened, showing him how much she truly meant her words. "I know I'm not such a good friend. Hell, I'm not even worth being called a friend. Honestly, I don't care if you don't acknowledge me as one, and I understand if you won't forgive me. What I did back then was cruel. But I just want to apologize, so that I could live knowing that I have at least admitted my mistakes, and feel sorry about it."

He registered her words into his brain, having a little clue of where it came from. Regardless, he never held any sort of resentment toward her. Even after all this time, she remained someone he always valued as a friend. Even if on some point in life she grow to hate him, he would never turn his back on her. He wouldn't stop calling her his friend and would always respect her with her choices.

He scratched the back of his head. "Honestly, I'm not really sure where this came from so I'm just guessing around. I forgive you, Mira, for whatever you've done. Just so you know, I never hate you. Well, maybe slight dislike for your behavior in the past, but I never _ever_ hate you."

Her eyes widened in surprise. So he never held any grudges toward her?

"You never? _At all?_ " she asked in disbelief. Just a minute ago, she was sure she was worthy of being hated, but now, his words made her doubted herself.

"Come on, why would I hate you? Everyone make mistakes, and so do you. It's normal. We're friends after all, and I never hate any of my friends."

She was speechless. Never had she thought that asking for his forgiveness would be this easy. Right now, she was literally at loss of words, she could merely stared back at him, her expression was unreadable.

Frowning in worry, he waved his hand in front of her. "Mira? Are you okay?"

Just after those words left his lips, he found his neck being wrapped tightly by her arms and her body pressed against his. His body froze and his brain grew numb from the sudden contact. He didn't return the embrace immediately, but only did so after his mind could finally register what was happening.

Happy pressed his cheeks together with his small paws as he jaw-dropped at the sight, eyes as wide as a tennis ball.

"T—They really like each other..." he whispered to himself in disbelief. Although he had the tendency to tease the couple every time he got the chance, he found it hard to believe that all this time he was actually right.

Mirajane smiled against his broad shoulder, closing her eyes as the feeling of gratefulness washed over her. She couldn't describe how thankful she was for him, for all the friendly things he had done to her, and for making her feel that her soul was worthy enough to look after. She had never had any real friends before, the only closest thing she had was a rival, which was Erza. And now, Natsu considered her as his friend. It felt nice knowing that she played an important role in his life.

"I know you're probably tired of hearing this, but, thank you Natsu. Thank you for coming to my life," she said softly. Her breath warm and tickled his skin, which caused goosebumps ran up from his neck and down to his arms. The feeling was foreign, yet comfortable.

He was trying desperately to stop his heart from thumping so fast. They sounded so loud in his ears he was afraid she could hear them. If that happened, even the calm facade he put on wouldn't be able to save him from embarrassment.

"I will always be there for you. Always," he vowed one thing he would always be sure of. He would be lying if he said he didn't care for this girl, because he really did. He wouldn't hesitate to cross the ocean just to be there for her when she need him. Honestly, he would even catch a bullet for her. He would do literally _anything._ That's just how much he cared about her.

His arms were forced to let her go when she pulled away. She lingered for a little more while to gaze warmly at his face and gave two soft taps on his cheek, before walking away, leaving Natsu to stare at her back with numerous thoughts filling his mind.

Happy, who had been covering his eyes throughout the whole scene, peeked through his paws and sighed in relief. "Phew, I thought there was gonna be a kiss."

* * *

They had been walking for another forty five minutes when Natsu suddenly commanded them to stop. He crooked his neck and sniffed the air around him. Frowning, he looked around his surrounding warily, as if expecting a sudden attack.

"What is it?" Mirajane asked curiously. She was impressed at how keen his senses were, being the dragon slayer he was. She thought it was a precious asset that would surely be advantageous in many jobs and occasions.

"I smell someone. A woman, from the fragrance," he stated, eyes wandering cautiously. He sniffed again. "But it's faint. She was here probably twenty minutes ago."

"Do you think she's a threat?"

He shrugged, letting his guard loose as he made sure there was no other sign of her presence there. "Maybe. I don't know, I'm not a clairvoyant."

"We should stay on guard. Happy, can you fly a bit higher to monitor the area?"

The blue cat saluted. "Aye, I'm on it sir!" And with that, he flew away.

Mirajane turned her attention back to the dragon slayer. "Do you find anything else beside the woman?"

Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply again. "I smell something, like mint. Yeah, a lot of mints."

Just in time, Happy approached her and gave a brief report about everything he saw, saluting all the while like a soldier to his commander. "Aye, I saw a lot of bushes ahead, sir. I think they're bergamots."

"We're close! Come on!"

Natsu ran excitedly with Mirajane and Happy trailing behind. It wasn't long until they finally reached the place where thick and wild bushes grew almost everywhere. It was almost like a field located in the center of a group of tall trees filled with numerous bergamots. The closer they got, the stronger they could smell the minty scent. It didn't need a keen nose like Natsu to be able to smell them.

"So this is bergamots," Mirajane mused and sniffed the air around her. "They smell nice. Very refreshing."

"I like it too. Can we take some of them home?" Natsu asked, his hand already reaching out to pluck them out.

But before his hand could touch the plants, it received a hard smack courtesy to the Demon. "Don't touch it unless I told you to. And no, we have to give them to the villagers."

"Aw, come on! There are plenty of them!"

She shook her head sternly. "No, Natsu. We have to gather as much as we could, we never know how much they need them."

He snorted, but complied with her words, "Whatever." As he straightened up, his enhanced ears caught some noises from afar. He knitted his eyebrows and try to concentrate on where might those noises came from.

"Do you hear something?" Happy asked.

The dragon slayer nodded. "Yeah, sounds like human voices. There are plenty of them, around eight to ten people."

"We have to make sure whether they are enemies or not. You and Happy go check them out, I'll catch up after I'm done picking up these bergamots," Mirajane commanded as she covered her hands in rubber gloves and pulled out a huge sack from her backpack in which she would stuff all of the bergamots in.

Her order made him skeptical. The idea of leaving her alone didn't settle quite well with him. "Are you sure? We could just stick together through everything."

"It will be better this way. We'll save up much time and finish the mission sooner."

He let out a resigned sigh. "Alright. I'll see you later then." He motioned his head at his partner. "Let's go, Happy."

"Aye!"

As soon as they were out of her sight, Mirajane wasted no time to start with her task at hand. She intended to cut the plants in swift motion only to find out the small stalk was more solid than it looked, so she took her time to cut through each stalk. All of her attention was poured into her current task which made her failed to notice another human presence in the area.

"Well, well, if it isn't the Fairy Tail wizard."

The stranger's voice startled her and kicked all of her battle instincts on. She immediately jumped to her feet and turned to her fighting stance. Her eyes looked narrowly at the woman before her.

"You've trespassed my territory, and therefore, you shall follow my rules." The woman smiled wickedly as she took one step toward her. She began counting with her index finger. "Rule number one: no one takes what's mine."

* * *

 **Author's note:** I'm sorry it took me so long! I was pretty busy with life, especially when the final exams are coming in less than two months already. God, kill me now.

Truth to be told, this is not my best chapter and it's even the shortest of the current four, but yeah, this is the best I can do as of now. I promise to entertain more in the future chapters, so please bear with me for now.

But anyway! Shout out to DisasterMaster0 for the great flashback idea! Dude, you're awesome. I really love how the flashback turns out, thanks to you.

As always, reviews and criticisms are very much appreciated.


	5. Revival

**4\. Revival**

* * *

"Rule number one: no one takes what's mine."

In a blink of an eye, the foreign woman lashed out, firing an explosion from her right hand. This, of course, surprised Mirajane, although she was fast enough to dodge it. Any seconds late it would have caused her some serious injuries.

Dark smokes were now covering her surroundings. She couldn't see anything, nor did she hear any movements from her opponent. Just when she began to focus her instincts that she realized the woman had jumped high above her.

"And rule number two: all trespassers should be exterminated!" she exclaimed as she dropped yet another series of bombs.

She had taken the blows, but not before transforming into her Satan Soul. Flapping her bat-like wings, she blew away the smoke, clearing her sight. Only now that she was able to fully observe the strange woman before her, who was standing with hands on her hips and a challenging look on her face. She had a strikingly beautiful face with porcelain white complexion, perfectly contrasting her jet black hair. If Mirajane had to guess, she must be around her late twenties. Twenty-eight-year-old tops. A hint of evil look was apparent in her beautiful feature. Typical antagonists. The said woman now, however, knotted her perfectly structured eyebrows as fear etched visibly on her face, clearly flabbergasted by Mirajane's transformation. However, she suppressed it by trying to look calm.

"So you're the Demon Mirajane, huh," she mused, more to herself. Although looking like she had regained her composure, Mirajane still caught the shakiness in her voice. She stood firm on the ground, never letting her guard down.

"I've heard many things about you," she continued, her voice deep yet soft. "How you gained the S-Class wizard title on such a young age, how you are able to perform a demonic Take-Over magic, how strong and resilient you are, even your beauty. Oh, I'm so jealous of you and your beauty." She pouted at the end of her sentence.

"I don't have time to hear your ramblings. I just have to take some of these bergamots and then I'll be gone for good."

"The bergamots are _mine._ I discovered them first years ago and nobody is taking these away from me," she retorted confidently, folding her arms across her ample chest.

"You don't understand! I need them to cure the people in the village!"

The older woman let out a deep chuckle, a chuckle that somehow sounded disdaining her. "That's what they always said. But don't you know? Bergamots could do way more than just curing diseases. Once you consume it, you will appear _ageless_ _._ Like me. Believe me, I'm much older than I physically look."

Mirajane knitted her eyebrows. "That's not possible."

"But it's true. That's why I don't think you're here only for curing people, I think you're here for the same reason as I do." Getting to her point, she cracked a sly smile. "We're both beautiful woman, and let's be honest, who wouldn't want to look young and beautiful forever, right?"

"I'll be honest with you. I understand your wish to look young and beautiful forever, any girl would relate. But when you're willing to put other lives in risk or even willing to kill just to get what you want, that's when you need to realize that your obsession's come to a point where it's unhealthy."

Unaffected by Mirajane's preach, she tilted her head, grinning. "That's just the risk I have to take to achieve my dreams. Everything has price, Mirajane, and I understand it. We don't live in a world where everything is free, especially a rare items like this." She plucked a single shaft of the bergamots, twirling it between her index finger and thumb.

"So you're saying you want to keep allof these bergamots to yourself for your own benefits?" When the other woman gave a confident nod, she went on. "That explains why we got reports of missing villagers, then."

The woman threw her hands up playfully. "I was just defending my treasure."

* * *

"We're getting close! Happy, stay on guard!"

His ever-so-loyal companion saluted eagerly. "Aye, sir!"

As they neared their destination, the voices grew louder and more distinct that not only Natsu could hear them but Happy as well. It became apparent that it was a man's wail. Not only one, apparently, but a couple of them. Following the invisible trail, it led them to an empty ground where they came to a halt. No cave, no shelter, nothing but a few trees and bushes.

Looking around, Happy scratched his furry head. "There's nothing here. But I thought I heard them from here. Did we make a mistake?"

"No, we're not," Natsu replied, a serious look on his face. He walked over to one of the bushes and spread them apart, revealing a huge underground cage. Inside it were a numbers of men, all of them looked unkempt, dirty, alarmingly skinny, and extremely tired. He knew they must be the missing villagers. Clearly someone had been keeping them prisoner all this time.

Upon seeing Natsu, their faces brightened up instantly as a spark of hope rose within them. "Young man! Have you came to our rescue?" A man with a thick and unkempt beard spoke.

Showing his trademark smirk, the dragon slayer nodded. "You bet I am!" He tried to pull open the cage, which was, in no surprise, locked. "Clear the ground! I'm gonna have to break this thing."

All of the men quickly stepped aside, anticipating their savior's next move. Taking a few steps backward, Natsu charged in full speed, punching his way through the thick metal with his fire. After a big hole was made, he reached his hand out to help the prisoners out one by one. He heard a series of "thank goodness", "I can't believe I'm free" and "is this really happening?" coming from them, and watched as they roamed around the ground, happy to be freed. The sight, however, made him frown in concern. He couldn't imagine what they had gone through.

The man with the beard who had spoken to him earlier approached him, shaking his hand almost too eagerly. By the looks of his dangerously thin figure and tired face, he was surprised to find such strength within him. "I can't thank you enough for saving us. Did the headman sent you here?" When Natsu nodded, his lips formed a grateful smile. "Ah, I knew it. They must be really worried. Luckily, all of us survived through the hell that heartless witch put us through."

"Old man, who locked you up in there?"

His face turned serious now. "An evil woman named Zaria. She had us locked up for trying to 'steal' her bergamots. She claimed to be the first one to discover it, thus making them her properties, and she would never _ever_ let anyone even so much as touching the plants, no matter what you reason you have."

Natsu's eyes widened as realization dawned upon him; Mira was in trouble.

"Apparently, bergamots are able not only to cure diseases, but it can also bring youth to one's physique. That is, if you constantly consume it, which is why she needs plenty of them in order to keep her look young forever."

Understanding the whole problem now, he nodded and reassured him, "Don't worry, you're safe now. We'll take care of her and makes sure she regret what she's done."

The older man smiled again. "I will forever be thankful for it."

Calling his exceed, Natsu instructed him to fly back to the village to get some reinforcements to pick up the prisoners. As always, Happy gave him his signature reply before taking off into the air in high speed. He was always happy to be assigned to something that only he could do, which made him feel like he was as much important as the other members in the team.

After watching Happy left, he turned back to the man. "The reinforcements are coming. Tell everyone to stay here and wait. I have to go help my friend now, I'm sure she'd come across Zaria already."

"Yes, you must go. Protect your friend and don't let that witch win."

Natsu flashed one last smile before taking off as well, running as fast as he could. He hoped Mirajane was okay, he hoped she was strong enough to fight, he hoped she wasn't dealing with a powerful wizard from the dark guild. Though, deep down he knew she wasn't an ordinary wizard. She was the Demon Mirajane of Fairy Tail, for goodness sake. He knew that he shouldn't be worrying, regardless of how strong her opponent is. So why was he worrying so much now?

Maybe because he knew this was her first mission after her temporary absence, maybe because he knew deep down she was still fragile and unsteady, maybe because he made a vow to Elfman to protect his sister with every ounce of muscles he had, or maybe it was just him. He cared for this girl deeply he couldn't help but worrying too much despite knowing what she was capable of. It would shatter him if she's hurt.

No, he wouldn't let that happen. Not under his watch. He would protect her with all his might, even if that means he have to put his own safety in danger. He wasn't scared, not at all. Especially when it comes to protecting someone he cares about, he feared _nothing._

Determined, Natsu sped up.

* * *

 _Clash! Clash!_

Both of the woman were now engaged in a fist-to-fist battle. It surprised Mirajane that her opponent actually possessed such high speed that could rival her Satan Soul, not to mention her kicks and punches were strong enough to make her stumble backward a little bit when she was blocking it, which provoked the need to use her full strength. It was hard for Mirajane to admit it, but this woman was slightly giving her a hard time. Just _slightly._ Or maybe her fighting skills had simply gotten a little rusty. She might not be absent for so long, but if during those time she didn't sharpen nor made use of her skills at all, it was possible. Especially when she used to spend almost every free time she had to practice _a lot_ for the past few years. She was just _that_ determined to be strong.

Wanting to observe her enemy, the Demon let herself be on the defensive side. After a couple of blocking punches and dodging attacks, she began to understand Zaria's pattern. She inwardly counted as each steps were taken. As Zaria attempted to send a kick to her gut, Mirajane grabbed a hold of her ankle, having counted all this time and had predicted that attack beforehand. Unable to move her leg from her strong grip, Zaria grunted angrily.

Being on the attacking side now, Mirajane swung her leg around in a circular motion before releasing her, letting her body being tossed a couple of yards away. With one strong flap of her wings, she reached the older woman, who was now struggling to get up.

"Honestly, I'm getting tired of your game. Let's end this once and for all." Mirajane held out her hand, preparing to perform her signature spell. " _Soul Extinction!_ "

A ball of explosive dark magic appeared on her open palm before hitting the target on rapid speed. The former action was followed by an ear-piercing scream from her foe as the deadly spell hit her. She watched idly as Zaria's body went limp before falling forward to the ground. Sighing, she deactivated her Satan Soul. She realized that she slightly outdid it, but at least she had done her job.

"Mira!" Natsu shouted as he dashed toward her.

"Nat—?" half turning around and didn't even get to finish her sentence, Mirajane found herself already in the arm of the pink-haired. She was very surprised that she stood still with all of her muscles tense. But after a while, she started to relax and wrapped her arms around him as well. She had missed the all too familiar warmth and comfort he always provided her with.

"Thank god you're okay. I was worried about you," he breathed against her ear, making her skin felt sensitive and ticklish all of a sudden.

She smiled against his shoulder, flattered by his genuine concern. "I'm okay, Natsu. I can handle my opponent."

Natsu released her to put his firm hands on her shoulder. "You shouldn't have fought her alone, she could have hurt you!"

"So am I supposed to postpone our fight to wait for you?" she blurted, smiling to suppress her laugh. "Really, I'm alright, Natsu."

"Was she strong? Did she give you a hard time?"

"She was pretty strong," Mirajane admitted. "She's a skilled combat fighter, but don't really have the strongest durability when attacked by magic spell." She intentionally left the latter question unanswered, and Natsu didn't seem to notice either. She had had enough of feeling emotionally fragile these past weeks, feeling physically weak was just unnecessary addition.

Stepping aside, she let him take a look at sprawled Zaria. He approached the so-called witch and knelt beside her. When he bowed his head down and shut his eyes tightly, that was when Mirajane questioned his action, "Natsu?"

"Whyyyy? This is so unfair! I was looking forward for this kind of battle but you took it away from me! How could you, Miraaaa?" he whined aloud and started crying comically.

More amused than feeling bad, Mirajane chuckled at the sight. She knew how much this guy was itching for an epic fight whilst all she wanted was to avoid this kind of situation. Unfortunately, the odds weren't siding with either of them. "I'm sorry, Natsu. I promise to make it up to you."

"How?" Natsu asked, still pouting.

She hummed, taking a moment to think. "I'll cook for you? Anything you want? Your favorite food? A real all-you-can-eat feast just for you?"

"That's not a bad idea. In fact, it's a great idea!" His stomach suddenly growled. "Oh crap, I'm suddenly hungry. I can't wait to go home, my mouth is already watering."

"Slow down, Natsu. We haven't even officially finish this job." Mirajane giggled. "By the way, have you found anything interesting?"

"Oh yeah. I found the lost villagers whose apparently being locked up by that woman." He gestured to Zaria. "They were all held capture for trying to take these bergamots, which she claimed to be hers. She consumed them to help her stay young or something. That's messed up, right?"

"Yes, I've heard. She told me herself. It saddens me that those kind of people _do_ exist in this world. I can relate to her desire to look young and beautiful forever, but I just don't understand why she would go all the way of hurting innocent people. That's incredibly self-centered, and inhuman and just... plain selfish."

"Hey, I know, " Natsu soothed her, reaching out to stroke her back. He sensed that Mirajane had somehow gotten emotionally affected by this whole event, and this was the first action that came to his mind. "It's super messed up. I say we just gotta focus to be the ones helping these innocent people who are unfortunate enough to get themselves in this fucked-up-ness."

His advice made her snorted, though she appreciated it and understood his point. She admitted, she was surprised with his change in the past month. Not only that he was able to recover quickly over Lisanna's death, he was also a huge influence in reconstructing her and Elfman's emotional stability. She was impressed of how much he had improved into such a mature and selfless person now.

"I agree, Natsu. That's a pretty decent advice. Since when did you become a wise counselor?"

He shrugged, smirking. "I'm still learning, I guess."

"How humble," she teased, which made them both chuckle. "So, Natsu, will you help me finish cutting out these bergamots?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure. But can I still take them home?"

Mirajane sighed, but she smiled nonetheless. "Just cut them out, Natsu."

* * *

At the end of the day, they went back to Vermount Village to deliver the bergamots, which earned them vibrant responses from the villagers. The headman showered them with compliments and expressed his gratitude a little too excessively. He wished them the best of luck for their future missions and their life before their departure. With one last goodbye, they left the village.

The trio walked home with a content smile on their faces. Each of their personal thoughts and impressions on this mission may differ, but there was one thing that they all agreed on: this job was worth the prize.

In Natsu's case, he might be upset that he didn't get the chance to be in action, but when he gave it a second thought, he wouldn't mind getting ten thousand jewels for merely saving the lost villagers either. Meanwhile, Mirajane was disappointed that this mission turned out to be more handful than what she had expected before, but when she received her rewards, it was like all of her disappointments and exhaustion melt away. And then there was Happy, well... he was just glad that he could be useful for his team, and the ten thousand jewels was just a double bonus for him.

"You know, we should do this more often. We make a pretty good team. You, me, and Happy," Natsu suddenly spoke, rising Mirajane's attention.

"You think so? Do you like to have me around so I could do all the dirty job while you just sit back and look pretty, huh?"

"I—what?! You didn't give me the chance to fight the stupid witch! If you had just waited for me I would have finished all the dirty work for you. And for the record, I am _not_ pretty!"

Intrigued by his comical reactions, she played along. "So you're saying I'm supposed to let Zaria attacked me mercilessly and waited for your rescue? Don't you think that would be humiliating for me, to let my enemy see how weak I look like?"

"Well…" he scratched the back of his neck. His head started to spin. He hated how she could always twist his own words back against him. "That's not what I meant."

"Can you enlighten me, then? So I don't make the same mistake twice in our future jobs."

Natsu scrunched his nose, and ruffled his already messy pink hair. "Argh, I don't know! Fine, it's not your fault."

She giggled, satisfied that she could mess up with his brain so easily. Poor boy is going to get more of it if he really decides to team up with her. But she just couldn't help it, it was too fun to miss.

"You're really cute, you know, Natsu," she said, surprising the dragon slayer. The words just slipped out of her mouth without her brain filter, though she didn't regret it either. She genuinely thought he was cute, both behavior and looks too, if she had to be honest. But of course she wouldn't admit it out loud, especially in front of the said guy.

"Wh—why would you say that? I—I'm not cute." It was faint, but she could see the blush on his cheeks.

"I always think you're cute," she admitted, then smiled playfully. "Especially when you cry."

"Aw, come on, Mira! I thought we're over that."

"It was never over for me." She finished her sentence with a wink which received a mere groan response from Natsu.

"Mira, is it true that you're holding an all-you-can-eat feast for Natsu?" Happy chirped in after being quiet for some time. When Mirajane nodded in response, he beamed. "Can you cook fish? Like, lots of fish?"

She chuckled. "But this is for Natsu. He's the one who gets to choose what I cook, Happy."

"But Natsu loves fish too, don't you, Natsu?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure," he replied nonchalantly, merely at the mention of his name.

"See? He loves it just as much as I do. So, can you?"

Mirajane hummed. "I could manage that. But since I don't owe you anything, you have to help me wash the dishes. And since this dinner is for Natsu, you can't ask for his help at all. Deal?"

Happy groaned loudly, clearly showing that he didn't like her suggestion at all. "Whyyy? Why does it have to be like this?"

Flashing her sly smile ever so faintly, she replied, "Oh, Happy, everything has price."

* * *

 **Author's note:** It's been so long, I'm so sorry. It's just life... I started college and stuff, _sigh._ Actually I had finished like 70 percent of this chapter long ago but haven't really found the time to finish and wrap it until now. I think I had lost my writing skills along the way, I don't know. But I just couldn't bear to make you guys wait another second. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed it. Send me feedbacks and criticism if you have any, as always I would very much appreciate it.


	6. Hypnotized

**5\. Hypnotized**

* * *

It was a little before midnight when they arrived back at Magnolia. The sky was dark with bright full moon beautifully gracing it, providing them enough light to lead the way. The sound of the crickets became their melody as they walked along the empty streets. Both of them taking their time to walk, neither said a thing. It wasn't an awkward silence, though, it was a comfortable one.

Mirajane looked up at the sky, marveling at the way the moon glowed. She always enjoyed staring at the night sky, especially the moon. It was a habit she had had since she was young. She always thought the moon was one of the most beautiful wonders of the world.

"Don't you think it's beautiful?" she remarked, turning to her companion.

"What is?" Natsu asked distractedly, adjusting the position Happy slept in on his head. His partner had lost consciousness as soon as they reached Magnolia, unlike Natsu whose mind still fresh after waking up from a seven-hour-long slumber.

She gestured upwards, smiling. "The moon."

Looking up with the slightest bit of interest, he shrugged one shoulder. "It's alright, I guess."

"Come to think of it, I never know where you live. Is it far from here?" Mirajane darted to an entirely different topic.

"Not really. My house is on the outskirts of town. Inside the forest actually, but not too deep. You can come by if you like, but there's a rule."

She arched an eyebrow. "What's the rule?"

The moment his lips formed a cheeky grin was the same moment she realized his sneaky intentions. "Bring a treat with you."

Still, however, the childish look on his face made the Demon chuckled. "You mean my homemade cooking?"

He nodded firmly. "Exactly."

Of course she knew she was right. It wasn't a hard guess. The way his brain worked was so simple sometimes she felt that he was as transparent as he was witty, that, and the vast knowledge she had of him from years of their friendship helped too. "You're so predictable, Natsu."

His grin went wider. "You just know me so well."

Seeing an opportunity she would never miss, her mischievous side threw a smart retort. "Not by choice. I'm stuck with you all the time."

No longer grinning, he exclaimed, "Hey! What's wrong with that? I thought you enjoyed my company."

"I'm not sure I can say yes to that. You can be quite annoying sometimes," she continued teasing.

He huffed in annoyance. "Now you're the one being annoying, Mira. Quit it."

She giggled. Feeling pretty content, she decided enough was enough. "Alright, dragon boy."

Mirajane took a turn at the crossroads and was about to bid her companion adieu, but became puzzled when he was still following her. "Are we heading the same way?"

"Yeah, of course."

"So your house is this way too?"

"Well, no, but I have to drop you off first, right?"

His words made her silent. He had done more than enough for her, yet there was still more to it? She couldn't believe him. "You don't have to do that, Natsu," she muttered after a while.

The dragon slayer sighed. "Mira, I'm still bound by my vow to Elfman until I get you home safe and sound. My job isn't done yet. And how many times do I have to tell you that it's fine? I didn't do all of this because I'm forced to, but because I _want_ to. I don't ever wanna hear that again from you. Understand?"

Mirajane nodded slowly. This side of Natsu was a new sight for her and she was still adjusting herself with it. Never had she ever thought that she would feel intimidated by him, though in a good way. She had seen his playful and mischievous self so much that it never occurred to her mind that he could be stern as well. Regardless, a small smile graced her lips.

The rest of the walk was continued in silence. Along the way, they had zero encounter with other people. Even when they passed their guild, the building was already dark, which was quite unusual since most of the nights the guild would still be lit with partying members at this time of hour. Tonight, however, the whole town was already asleep. It was as if the streets and even the town itself belonged to them.

"So, this is me," Mirajane said as they reached her house. She turned to him and smiled again. "Thank you, Natsu, for everything. You're right, a quick getaway is what I needed to clear my mind. I'm already feeling much better right now."

"Anything for you, Mira," he replied sincerely, making her cheeks felt hot. "But I'm serious, we should do it again sometimes. We _do_ make a pretty great team."

The Demon nodded. "Sure, I'd love to."

"Yesss!" He exclaimed, fistbumping into the air.

His antics made her laugh. She really did have a good time whenever they were together. He was fun and easy going, but could also be the kind of guy who wouldn't think twice to kick someone's ass when they're messing with his friends, _and_ he could also be the kind of friend who would be there for you during your biggest downfall. Really, she couldn't ask for a better kind of friend in her life.

Taking one step closer toward him, she looked deep into his onyx eyes. They reflected the traits that she always knew Natsu had; strong-willed and brave on the outside, but also kind and compassionate inside. Very delicately, she touched his cheek with her right hand. Her bold move made her own heart beat two times faster than usual.

Natsu stared back at her cerulean eyes, the bluest orbs he had ever witnessed in his life. He thought they were beautiful, a perfect emphasis to her fair complexion and ivory hair. When he felt her warm hand against his cheek, his heartbeat went so crazy he feared that she could hear them. They went even _crazier_ at her next actions; Mirajane closed her eyes, and slowly closing the gap between their faces.

He felt a light peck on his cheek.

"Good night, dragon," she whispered, smiling timidly.

"G—Good night…" Natsu stammered, still recovering from the unexpected event. His rigid body was standing rooted to the ground even after Mirajane had entered her house, and his heartbeat had yet to go back to normal. This was a new feeling for him, and his slow brain was still trying to process it. Unconsciously, his hand reached up to touch his cheek, feeling hot all of a sudden.

 _Mirajane kissed me…_

The thought alone still felt strange in his mind. But odd enough, he found himself grinning like an idiot.

 _Mirajane kissed me!_

The longer he thought about it, the wider his smile got and the warmer his cheek felt. He soundlessly fistbumped into the air again, but with more excitement this time, before sprinting his way to his house. He never felt happier and more alive before. It was crazy how a single peck on the cheek could affect him so much, especially coming from a girl whom he adored very much.

Strange. He had spent his life in the guild surrounded by girls, even bonding with them to the extent of being Lisanna's best friend and 'husband' when they were kids. But no one made him feel the way he felt toward Mirajane. Only Mirajane could made him as happy as he was right now. Only Mirajane could disrupt his heartbeats and made him flustered. It was all too foreign and complicated for him to comprehend. He had never experienced something like this in his life.

 _What is this feeling?_

He had no idea, but he was eager to find out.

* * *

 _The front door creaked open and Lisanna peered inside, looking around the house with a tinge of guilt. Right now, meeting Mirajane was the last thing she wanted. When she did not find either her brother or sister's presence, she sighed in relief and entered. However, she was too fast to conclude._

 _Stepping out of the kitchen, Mirajane now leaned on the wall with her hands folded across her chest. She arched an eyebrow softly and her firm gaze was fixated on her little sister. She might seemed casual on the outside, but Lisanna knew better. Her expression and body language only meant one thing; she was in trouble._

 _Putting on an innocent face, Lisanna pretended to act surprised. "M—Mira-nee! I didn't see you there." Though her stutter was more of a result of fear than of shock._

 _Mirajane still stared hard at her, making the younger Strauss felt smaller and smaller in comparison to her sister. She could only wish that the earth would swallow her at once._

" _Do you know what time it is?" The Demon muttered. Her flat tone only added to the suspense._

 _Lisanna swallowed the thick bile that was rising in her throat. "U—Uh, I'm not sure..."_

" _But you know the sun is already set, right? Why didn't you come home before that?"_

 _She didn't give an immediate reply. She was well aware that she had passed the given curfew, but frankly, she didn't really care at that time. Today, she and Natsu watched over the dragon egg that he found a few days ago. They had been doing this ever since, watching and observing its growth everyday. She was as eager as he was to be able to witness a dragon's existence. On top of that, they had fun playing household pretend and babysitting the egg. But now, seeing that she was only a few words away from tasting her sister's wrath, she mentally scolded herself and took notes to think twice before taking such a risky move next time._

" _I was playing with Natsu and I lost track of time," she admitted, looking down to avoid the stern gaze thrown at her._

 _Hearing the dragon slayer's name didn't make Mirajane's anger subside, it only made her expression turn into a frown instead._

" _You're spending an awfully lot of time with him," she remarked distastefully. She didn't fancy the idea of her baby sister and the little prick being alone for such a long time. They had been gone for a whole day, for god's sake! She wasn't about to let him bring bad influence or turn Lisanna into a rebel. "Did he ask you to stay late?"_

" _No, no! It's my fault. He told me to go home because you might be worried but I wanted to stay a little longer. I'm sorry, Mira-nee," Lisanna confessed, this time, looking up at her sister with pleading eyes. In an instant, Mirajane's hard gaze became softer and her frown receded. Lisanna knew she had hit her soft spot. No matter how angry she was at her, Mirajane could never last long._

 _The Demon released a defeated sigh. "Fine. Just don't do that again, alright?"_

" _I promise." Lisanna held out her small hand for a pinky swear, which Mirajane accepted with her own._

" _At least I'm giving props to the little punk for looking out for you. That is if you're telling the truth." Mirajane ended her sentence with a glare, which sent chills to the younger Strauss._

" _I swear I'm telling the truth, Mira-nee," she quickly replied._

 _The former snickered, "I knew you wouldn't have the guts to lie to my face. So, care to tell what the hell have you two been doing these past few days?"_

 _At this, Lisanna beamed and answered eagerly. "Do you remember that time when Natsu found a huge egg? He said it was a dragon's egg! I'm not quite sure but I'm also hoping it is. We made a shelter in the forest, and we've been tending the egg since then."_

 _Mirajane looked at her as if she had gone crazy. "Dragons don't exist, Lisanna. I thought you knew better."_

" _Natsu said he was raised by one! His name is Igneel. But one day he was gone and never returned. Natsu's been looking for him ever since."_

 _Her sister's statement only made her scoff, "He's delusional. You should steer clear of him."_

" _I don't want to. I like playing with Natsu."_

" _What do you see in him anyway?" she asked as she walked toward the kitchen, Lisanna followed closely behind._

" _What do you mean?"_

" _Don't play dumb, Lisanna, I can see that you like that boy." The former looked back to see her sister's slightly flushed face. "See? You're blushing."_

 _Lisanna was busted. She didn't see any reason to hide it anymore. Although she enjoyed her time with the dragon slayer, she didn't know if she liked him_ that _way. One thing she was certain was that she would like to expand her friendship, and intended to make it long term. But she knew denying it would be pointless because Mirajane would find a way to win the argument anyway._

 _She started hesitantly, "Well… Natsu is a really nice friend. He's fun to be with, and he's also funny."_

 _The Demon shrugged while opening the fridge to prepare dinner, all the while wondering what to cook tonight. "He doesn't sound very special to me, other than the fact that he's fun to tease and cute when cries."_

 _Lisanna hopped onto the dining chair, and rested her chin on her little palms. "That's because you never really talked to him, Mira-nee."_

" _I don't see why I should do that," she retorted, holding a bunch of ingredients on her hands and nudging the fridge closed. Once she placed them on the counter, she took out the utensils and began chopping them._

 _The younger Strauss could only sigh. Her sister could be so stubborn sometimes. But she smiled nonetheless. "I'm sure one day you'll understand."_

 _Mirajane kept chopping, ignoring her statement. There were rare times when she couldn't counter the argument, and this was one of those times, which was why she chose to kept silent._

 _After she was done, she poured the chopped ingredients to the stewpot and turned the stove on. Tonight, she was making a soup._

" _Tell Elfman dinner is almost ready," she instructed while her hand still stirring the stew._

 _Lisanna obliged and left the room. Even though she ignored her, she knew Mirajane heard and acknowledged her. She just had to wait for the moment it would actually happen._

* * *

The sun had risen, and its rays slipped through her bedroom curtain, illuminating her dark room. Mirajane leaned against her bed as she contemplated the memory that had just played in her mind. Guilt suddenly crept on her. She always knew Lisanna had a thing for Natsu, she knew how close they were and how much he meant to her. She might be gone now, but that doesn't mean those memories never existed. Lisanna was still very much alive in both Natsu's and her heart. Knowing that, she wondered if she was betraying her sister.

 _No, I'm not betraying Lisanna. Natsu and I are just friends. Nothing more, nothing less._

She recited those words over and over again in her brain like a mantra. For a second she felt relieved. She knew for sure that there was nothing going on between them that transcended friendship boundaries. So what made her feel guilty?

Maybe the thought of spending time with Natsu behind her back was. Maybe the thought that she had all the time in this world to hang out with Natsu while she couldn't was. If that's the case, she would make a confession. She was going to visit Lisanna's grave.

Determined, she walked up to her wardrobe and stripped out of her nightgown into a more decent attire, before leaving.

For two weeks following Lisanna's death, she used to visit her grave almost every day, but now she had toned it down to twice a week. She usually came with Elfman, but today she needed time for herself. She wanted to spill _everything_ that had been bugging her mind, and she would rather not have Elfman around listening to her girly issues.

Mirajane stood before Lisanna's tombstone, holding a bouquet of flowers she had bought along the way. Smiling faintly, she crouched down, replacing the old, withered flowers with the new ones.

"How are you, Lisanna?" she greeted, feeling a familiar sting on her eyes. Even after all this time, she still couldn't restrain herself from crying. She wiped them hastily before they reached her cheek. "I'm sorry, I know how much you hate seeing me cry."

She released a heavy breath, trying to smile this time. Lisanna wouldn't want to see her cry, she would want to see her happy. "So… I didn't ask Elfman to come, because there's something I want to tell you. I don't know if you already knew because I don't know what it's like in heaven, you probably could see everything from up there, but… lately I've been spending a lot of time with Natsu."

The Demon fiddled with her fingers, feeling slightly nervous as though Lisanna was actually present in front of her and listening to her confession. "I'm just… It's been bothering me for a while and I couldn't sleep last night because whenever I think of him, I always remember you, how close you were with him and how much you liked him. I feel like I'm going behind your back, and that I'm betraying you. Tell me, Lisanna, am I right?"

She felt stupid for asking that out loud. She didn't expect that she would suddenly hear her reply out of thin air. But she continued anyway. "I am _truly_ sorry if I'm hurting your feelings. You know I never wanted to do that. But… Natsu's been a _huge_ help ever since I lose you. He's always been there for me, guiding me through it all. I owe him _so_ much, and it's inevitable that I spend more time with him in to return his kindness. I really, _really_ hope you're fine with this."

The dragon slayer's face suddenly appeared in her mind, reflectively lifting her lips upward. It was weird how such petty things could make her smile now. "I think I understand what you meant now. You're right, Lisanna, he really is an amazing guy. I'm very thankful that I'm destined to meet someone like him in my life."

She sighed, reciting the same line she always utter during her visit. "You don't know how much I miss you, Lisanna. Life is not the same without you in it. I would give anything to see your smile and hear your laugh again."

Tears were threatening to fall again, but she vowed to be strong. She would not cry in front of her. Not today, not ever again. That was the least she could do. Gently, she placed her hand on the tombstone, her fingers tracing her sister's engraved name.

"Rest in peace, sister. I'll see you soon," she whispered, smiling sadly. With a heavy heart, she turned on her heels and left the cemetery, now heading straight to the guild. She felt that enough was enough, it was no longer her time to mourn. She should enjoy her life again and socialize with people, and not just Natsu. From now on, she would try to smile more and be happy. For Lisanna.

* * *

 **Author's note:** Okay, first of all, I apologize for the long wait. At least I didn't make you guys wait as long as the last chapter right? *laughs nervously* *sweat dropped*

Secondly, I know this is kinda a short chappie but I promise the next chapters will be more entertaining.

Thirdly (is that even a word? Nevermind, I just googled it and apparently it _is_ a word), I know I said I won't rush the romance but hey, it's just a peck on the cheek, it doesn't have to mean much right? And you can see that our favorite dragon slayer is still trying to sort out his feelings, and so is our Demon. So, no, I don't think I'm rushing this.

Fourthly (still a valid word), I really can't believe all of this attention this story is getting. Much love to all of you who has followed/favorited my work. God bless you all.

Fifthly, as you may or may not know, reviews are like cookies for authors soo you know what to do *winks* fill in the little box below of course! *hint* please *hint*


	7. Revelation

**Disclaimer: I am not Hiro Mashima.**

* * *

" _Rest in peace, sister. I'll see you soon," she whispered, smiling sadly. With a heavy heart, she turned on her heels and left the cemetery, now heading straight to the guild. She felt that enough was enough, it was no longer her time to mourn. She should enjoy her life again and socialize with people, and not just Natsu. From now on, she would try to smile more and be happy. For Lisanna._

* * *

 **6\. Revelation**

* * *

Natsu was feeling particularly happy today, and no doubt, the surprising event from last night played a big part for it.

The kiss… It was pure fluke on his side, as far as he was certain. A mere friendly gesture which somehow managed to occupy his mind for the entire night that he couldn't sleep a wink.

During his sleepless night, he replayed that particular scene thousands of times as he lay against his hammock. It was all happening so fast, but his mind remembered every detail of it. Everything was still very fresh. The way Mirajane stared at him with her big blue eyes, the ever-so-evident scent of her perfume when she leaned in, closing the gap between their faces, and the feel of her soft lips touching his skin. How could he possibly forget that? That was, by far, the most intimate gesture he had ever received from any girl.

His hand reflexively traveled up to his cheek for the umpteenth time that night, a grin crept up to his face as he did so. A strange warm feeling blossomed inside his stomach, spreading all the way to his chest, and he silently wondered whether it was a good thing or not.

He turned his body sideway, staring absentmindedly at Happy's sleeping figure now. He wondered along the way if Mirajane was wide awake on her bed as well, thinking the same thing. But then again, why would she? The thought of Mirajane _possibly_ think of him _that_ way was pleasing, but he knew that it was too good to be true. There was no way that could ever happen, so he quickly brushed that stupid thought aside.

Even then, erasing that thought from his mind didn't obliterate the weird feelings he had been experiencing since last night. Unfortunately, staying up all night didn't help in sorting out this jumbled mess of a feeling either. He tugged on his pink locks in frustration, cursing himself and his stupid feelings.

What in the world should he do?

 _Sigh_. He really had no idea.

One thing he knew for sure that he needed to see Mirajane again. He wasn't sure why, but he just _had_ to. He had had this foreign feelings for quite some time now, but the event from last night just added to the pile.

Driven by his eagerness, he arrived first thing in the morning to find the guild was still—unsurprisingly—empty. He huffed, plopping down on one of the chairs in disappointment. Almost immediately, his enhanced hearing caught some movements from the second floor.

"Natsu, eh? You're up unusually early," Makarov accosted, before descending the stairs to approach the said boy.

Natsu turned his chin toward his direction. "I could say the same thing to you, gramps."

"On the contrary, actually. It's quite a normal time for me to be at the guild. Who do you think opened the guild door?"

Letting the words sink in, he was almost embarrassed to admit that the thought didn't occur to him at all, so he merely let out a sheepish chuckle.

The guild master took a seat on the vacant chair beside him, and rubbed the back of his head slowly. "Perhaps one day I should pass on this kind of responsibility to someone. Waking up so early in the morning every day is getting quite tiresome at this age."

Natsu's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You mean, you're going to retire?"

"That's not what I mean, brat. I'm just saying that it would be nice to have someone take over my responsibility for opening the guild door every damn morning."

"Well, you can leave it to me, gramps! I could definitely do that!" the dragon slayer offered, grinning confidently.

Makarov glanced at him, giving the boy a once-over before shaking his head disapprovingly. "No, Natsu. You're not suitable for this job."

His wide grin immediately fell. "What do you mean? What's wrong with me?"

"Too reckless," the elder disregarded, much to the dragon slayer's annoyance. "You'd probably end up losing the keys."

"No way, that ain't gonna happen! You can trust me gramps!"

No longer listening, the former rubbed his chin slowly as his mind ran through the list of members of the guild he deemed responsible enough.

 _Let's see… Macao? Hmm, I don't think so. Both he and Wakaba never comes before 10._

"Oi, gramps! Are you listening?"

 _Laxus? Nah, he barely comes to the guild._

"Don't ignore me!"

 _Erza? Hmm… She's a promising candidate. Very responsible, highly trustworthy, perfectly disciplined—_

"Naaatsuuuu, why did you leave mee?" Happy's loud moan suddenly filled the air, instantly breaking his train of thoughts.

The exceed floated into the empty guild hall with half-lidded eyes and bare minimum amount of consciousness. He was already annoyed that his partner decided to wake him up at the earliest hour possible, telling him to go to the guild right now, and _then_ he had the audacity to leave him behind by going at such a fast pace that his sleepy body had a hard time keeping up with. Leave it to Natsu to ruin his mood in the morning.

Natsu turned his attention to the cat, and raised an eyebrow. "Who's leaving you? You were just flying _too slow,"_ he countered easily.

" _No._ You were going _too fast!"_

"I did not!"

"Did too!"

"I walked in my usual pace!"

" _Walked?_ You _ran_ like there's no tomorrow!"

Natsu paused for a moment. Did he actually _ran_ all the way here? Even if he did, he didn't remember. The moment he left his house, his body instantly turned autopilot, his mind too clouded with his own thoughts, and before he knew it, he found himself already reaching the guild. He wondered if Happy was just exaggerating things. Nevertheless, he wasn't going to back out in this argument and let Happy win. "Well, if you think so, then why didn't you fly _faster?"_

Happy glared at his partner in disbelief. _How dare he?_ It was one thing to wake him up and then ditched him, but turning the tables and putting the blame on _him?_ He would have snapped a nasty retort and lashed out at him if only he had the energy, but right now he didn't so he decided to let it slide just for this _once_ and merely dismissed him, "Whatever, Natsu. I'm going back to sleep." He dropped onto the table to lay down. Before closing his eyes though, he added, "But this is _not_ okay, you hear me, Natsu? And I'm not talking to you."

The latter merely rolled his eyes. "Well, no shit. You're gonna sleep anyway."

Sure enough, his partner already snored just seconds later, and Natsu was sure he didn't even bother staying sober to listen to his reply. He muttered a "Seriously, what the hell is his problem?" to himself before returning his attention to Makarov.

"I heard you took a job with Mirajane," Makarov finally said after deciding that it was safe to speak now. He shifted his gaze from the blue cat to his companion. "How did it go?"

Natsu shrugged his left shoulder. "Pretty well. At first I thought it was such a boring job. I mean, picking up plants? Seriously? I ain't becoming a wizard of Fairy Tail for nothing! But then it turns out that there's an evil wizard involved in this, and things got a little more exciting…" he paused to let out an annoyed huff. His expression turned sour. "…until Mira stole my spotlight. I was supposed to be the one fighting that witch, not her!"

The elder hummed and nodded thoughtfully, processing his words. "And how was Mira? Did she cope well with everything?"

"Oh yeah, she did great. As much as I hate it, she did manage to singlehandedly defeat the evil wizard."

He smiled proudly. "As expected from Mirajane."

Natsu grinned back, feeling proud as well despite his previous annoyance. "Of course! She's still awesome and super strong. I even daresay she's returned to her normal self."

Makarov frowned slightly. "Normal self?"

"Yeah, like the state she was before this whole… thing. But she's less hostile now, and is surprisingly much nicer," Natsu elaborated, remembering Mirajane's friendly smile and the warmth that emanated from it.

The guild master felt relaxed. After all, she had been acting a little out of character ever since her sister passed away, and given this, it was only normal for a parent to be worried about their kid. He was surprised when the news traveled that she was doing a job request with _Natsu_ _Dragneel_ of all people, and was a bit hesitant at first considering her conditions, and the boy was way too reckless to play a responsible chaperone in a job. He would be lying if he said he hadn't been antsy these couple of days. However, he also had to keep reminding himself that Mirajane Strauss was _not_ a frail child. She was a strong girl, for god's sake, an S-Class wizard at that. She did _not_ need to be watched over constantly like a toddler.

With a little amount of trust he had in Natsu and putting more faith in Mirajane's natural strength and talent as a wizard, he reluctantly let them go. Hearing from the boy himself that Mirajane did well sure calmed down his nerves.

"Well, that's certainly relieving. I'm glad she's feeling much better now." Makarov hopped off the chair, and started walking away with his arms folded behind his back. "Do tell her if she ever need me, feel free to visit me in the office."

"Aye sir!" Natsu saluted, mimicking his partner. Watching the old man's retreating form, he briefly contemplated seeking the answer of his personal issues to him. Being an old man he was, surely he could give Natsu some words of wisdom or something, and the guild was still empty, it was the perfect opportunity.

He was about to call out to him when another voice preceded his. "Natsu? That's very unlike you to come to the guild so early."

"E—Erza!" He almost jumped, slightly hating himself for doing that whenever the redhead talked to him. Watching her walked toward him, he scratched the back of his head, immediately running his head to work to find the right reply. "Uh…yeah, I—uh, just happen to wake up early and decided to come straight to the guild."

As he heard Makarov closed the door to his office, the perfect chance he once had went away with him. He scowled in annoyance. Damn Erza for screwing up his odds and chances.

The older girl raised her eyebrow in mild surprise. "Really? That's good for a change." A happy smile soon graced her lips as a bright idea occurred to her, which made Natsu mentally cringed at the bad feeling that was suddenly tugging at his chest. "I just remember that I haven't had my daily dose of strawberry cake, and now that you're here, I have a perfect company to enjoy it."

He blinked several times. "Wait, what?"

Before he could protest, the famous Titania already grabbed his arm, completely catching him off guard. "Don't worry, Natsu. I know just the perfect place that sells the best desserts you'll ever taste." She smiled reassuringly to him, which had the opposite effect to the dragon slayer, and started—literally—dragging him out to her favorite café just two blocks away from the guild. They were quickly catching attention of the few passerby on the street.

"B—But, I didn't agree to this!" he squeaked, trying to free himself from the iron grip only to find that the redhead easily overpowered him.

"Hush, now. We're almost there."

There was no point in fighting back anymore, Natsu groaned as he realized this. He inwardly threw every curses in his dictionary to whatever deity was watching him and laughing at him right now. He could do nothing but merely let his languid limbs being dragged away, because surely, he of all people, should know better than to defy the ever-so-fearsome Titania of Fairy Tail.

Given his current misfortune, he failed to notice a pair of amused eyes watching the scenario unfolded, snickering under the cover of his small blue paws before eventually closing his eyes again and resumed his interrupted slumber. This time with a content smile gracing his lips. Karma was a bitch, but at least it was definitely on his favor today.

* * *

When Mirajane arrived, the guild was already filled with more faces. She could see Gray ducking under the tables, seemingly in his daily search of his missing garments with Cana sitting on top of it, laughing loudly at the poor boy, face flushed and positively drunk already. Laki and a few other mages—whose name she never bothered to remember—were circling them and merely sighed or shook their head at the sight. She also spotted Reedus, engrossed with his painting as usual, and Levy sitting at the very far end of the room, taking her time to read peacefully, something she found amazing considering the rowdy people surrounding her.

Mirajane chose a seat of her own and plopped down on it. She looked around the guild once more, taking notice of the lack of a certain dragon slayer's presence, and sighed. It wasn't really surprising though, she came here pretty early. Even her brother hadn't even showed up.

"Heeeey girl! Mind if I sit here?" Cana had suddenly appeared in front of her, grinning and holding four bottles of beer, two in each hand.

Mirajane was a bit surprised and was struggling to find her voice. After all, nobody except Natsu and her siblings had ever approached her so casually like that. Maybe people were generally too scared at her to do so, she concluded. "Uh…not at all," she replied, flashing her an awkward smile. If she wanted to be more social, she realized she might need to improve her skill.

Cana sat down next to her, placing the bottles on the table. She took one to hold during the upcoming conversation and flipped her brown hair behind her shoulder before resting her chin on her palm. "So Mira, how was the job with Natsu?"

The Demon's eyebrows rose in surprise. "How did you know about that?"

The brunette rolled her eyes. "Please, _everybody_ knows it. We saw that little scene where he practically dragged you across the hall to the request board. Everyone was talking about it for days while you two were out on your fun little escapades. It's gotten bad enough that your brother actually flipped in front of the entire guild. Well, I'm not so surprised though. He keeps denying the obvious, and he's bound to get tired of it."

Her cheeks felt hot all of a sudden. Was their relationship really drawing that much of attention? There wasn't even anything going on between them! What could they possibly be gossiping about? And poor Elfman… He must be upset with all the gossip circulating around him, and he probably started to question his own belief. She made a mental note to have a little talk to him some time later to straighten things up and hopefully calm him down.

She felt her arms being nudged by the drunken brunette, her brown eyebrows wriggling suggestively. "So how was it? Come on, spill! I want to know _everything,_ the juicier the better."

Before Mirajane could open her mouth, though, Cana continued, "I must say, he'd grown some killer abs. He must've gone through some serious workouts this past year. I can only imagine how those strong muscles feel under my hands..." She stopped her momentary fantasy as she realized Mirajane was avoiding her eyes and balling her fists firmly. She quirked an amused eyebrow, and chuckled, waving her hand in dismissal. "Oh no, no, no, he's all yours. I'm not interested in him. Any property of yours isn't something I'm keen on trespassing. I'm just simply appreciating God's work of art."

Mirajane was still figuring out how to respond the brunette when she bombarded her with another questions. "But seriously, what do you think about him? At least you agree with me on this one, right? You can't deny the fact that he's so much hotter now."

She chose to ignore the last two sentences, instead replying to the first one, choosing her words carefully, "He's… a very good friend."

Cana's shoulder sagged visibly in disappointment. "Oh, come on Mira! You know that's not what I want to hear. Give me a better answer! At least admit that he's hot and I'll let you slide."

"He's my best friend. I don't see him that way," Mirajane stressed. She tried hard to hide it but she could no longer deny the fact that she was getting on her nerves.

"Best friend, huh?" the brunette repeated in consideration, as if tasting the words in her mouth, before shaking her head sternly. "Nope, that doesn't sound right." She then swung the bottle casually, being a regular drinker she was, and took a swig out of it.

Mirajane frowned. "Why would you think so?"

Cana wiped her mouth hastily. "Duh, because it's obvious there's something going on between you two. We're not dumb, we all can see it, you know."

"But I swear, there's nothing—"

She cut her off with a mock sigh and scoffed, "Like brother, like sister. What is it with you two, seriously? I can understand Elfman, but you? You're the second player in this game, you should've known better than the rest of us. Just step out of your shell already, no one's judging you."

Mirajane was starting to lose her temper from trying to win this trivial argument. She was _supposed_ to be good at this. She'd successfully won countless of arguments and bickers against her guildmates without having to put much effort into it. Throwing instant comebacks and ruthlessly putting people in place was her forte. At least, it _used to._ And now she couldn't even prove the brunette wrong, much less putting her in place. Where was that skill when she needed it the most?

She blew an exasperated breath. "How many times do I have tell you, Cana? We're _friends._ Whatever you or other people see between us are simply delusions."

But Cana kept pushing her button, "And how many times do I have to tell you _not_ to deny the obvious? Save your breath for something else that matters more, like telling me how your job was. I'm sure you guys had some _fun_. Where's the juicy details?"

Mirajane's face flushed from an equal mixture of anger and embarrassment. "We did _not_ do anything."

The sight only fueled in the brunette's suspicion. She smirked in satisfaction. "You can deny all you want Mira, but your face can never lie. Everything is clearly written all over you. Did you ever realize you're such a bad liar?"

"Shut up," Mirajane bit out dangerously. Her voice was strained from trying to hold the anger that was bubbling up inside.

Cana noticed this, but stayed firm. She knew she was playing a dangerous game. If this happened a few months ago she would have immediately ran for her life. She was only brave enough to do this because she knew Mirajane had changed somehow—and she knew Erza wasn't there to scold her either. Although it didn't stop the sweat from suddenly trickling across her forehead and her grip on the bottle tightened.

"What's the matter, Mira? Afraid that I could see through you?" she provoked, careful to keep her tone steady and fearless, while inside, she was anything but that.

When she didn't get any response, she pressed on, "Why would you even bother hide it? You don't need to be ashamed or an—"

"I said shut the fuck up!"

Silence suddenly fell upon the guild. Mirajane could feel numerous eyes watching them now, even Reedus had stopped painting. Her body suddenly became rigid, surprised at her own outburst, while Cana stared wide-eyed at her, looking equally surprised and tense. She stood abruptly and stormed off the guild, leaving everyone staring at her back in surprise. Cana didn't move from her seat. She was still too caught up in shock of the sudden outburst. After a while of collecting herself, however, the surprised look on her face turned into one of sheer amusement.

"Well, that's interesting," she murmured to herself, smiling slyly.

"You've gone too far, Cana," Levy said, suddenly appearing beside her and shaking her head in disapproval. Her hand holding the book which she had stopped reading some time ago close to her chest. "You're lucky you've gotten away with a mere shout to your face." She'd heard enough to figure out that the brunette was just trying to satisfy her own—or rather, _everyone's_ —curiosity by testing out Mirajane's reaction to their speculations. As she predicted, Mirajane didn't take it well. It couldn't be helped though. Mirajane might be different now but that doesn't mean she would suddenly become transparent. She gave kudos to Cana for bravery though.

"That's the point. I _knew_ she wouldn't do anything beyond that," she said, glancing at the petite girl. Now that her body had relaxed once again, she adjusted her position on the chair into a more comfortable one.

Levy sighed. "We can never be too sure, though. Just because she's nicer now doesn't mean she won't behead you the next time she sees you."

Cana shrugged coolly. The slight possibility hardly even made her flinch now. "It was worth it," she simply replied, before taking another swig of her beer.

* * *

Mirajane found herself sitting crouch-styled on the ground of South Gate Park now, watching a few kids playing soccer on the vast field. An outsider would think that she was too engrossed with the game to notice anything else around her. But if you take a better look, you will realize that she barely even paid any attention to it. Her gaze might be directed toward the kids, but her mind was in an entirely different zone. Inside, her brain was busy recounting the previous event and reflecting on her reaction to it. She tightened her hold around her legs and rested her chin on her knees.

It was common knowledge that the only friend she had aside of her siblings was Natsu, and obviously, this was the first time anyone had ever pushed her out of her comfort zone, and she wondered if she was overreacting. She wanted to befriend her guildmates, she really did, but at the same time, she wasn't ready for the unexpected interrogation and to be bombarded with numerous personal questions that _wasn't_ supposed to be anyone else's business but _her_ only. Why would they even stick their nose to her personal matters? Is that how people befriend each other these days? By prying into other people's life?

She released a heavy sigh. _So much for trying to be more social._

This was only her first attempt and she had already failed. Keeping her own words proved to be more challenging than not. And it'd only been like what, less than two hours since she made that decision? There were several things that she took seriously in her life, pride being one of the foremost, and she'd be damned if she ever find herself backing out of her own promise. The thought itself was like a knife twisting in her stomach. Honestly, she'd rather be forced to swallow a jug full of needles than do that. But on the other hand, having other people poke at her personal business wasn't something she keen on either. God forbid her letting herself relent to such treatment. She wasn't some kind of an animal at the zoo, she didn't live for the sole purpose of some sort of freaking entertainment for everyone. The thought made her blood boil, and for a moment, all she could see was red. Her nails unconsciously digging into the skin of her thighs, but before she could snap, her common sense quickly regain control over her emotions. The red clouds that were fogging her mind and vision before slowly dissipated as she regain consciousness. She took a deep breath and released them to calm her nerves.

 _This is so stupid,_ she grumbled inwardly. But once she gave it a second thought, she came to realize she was probably just—as much as she was embarrassed to admit—a big _dork_. She was simply too socially awkward to make friends through the _normal_ and _proper_ approach. No wonder she resorted to harass them, because what's the better façade to hide her true self other than being the bully? She figured it didn't make any difference to be liked or feared, at least people _noticed_ her, and she had people whom she could call _her friends._ Although, when she thought about it now, how can you call someone who feared you your friends?

This was undoubtedly a major blow to her ego, and she had never been brave enough to admit it even to herself. She had fallen too deep into denial, too ashamed to acknowledge that one crucial fact about herself that she'd become somebody else. But now, she won't let herself be ashamed anymore. She would try to accept that title proudly and embrace it. If there were two things she hated it would be cowards and the other would be hypocrites. She realized she was walking a dangerously thin line in between both categories, and she _hated_ herself even more for that. She'd die first before letting herself fall completely into either—or worse, both—category.

Even then, remembering her true self still didn't resolve her current issue at hand. She closed her eyes and slowly massaged her temple. Her head was starting to pound from thinking too much. Maybe it was best to do this step by step. There's a process for everything. At least she knew she already had a good start.

When she opened her eyes again, she realized the spot she had been staring at for the past time was already empty now. The kids that were playing soccer earlier had been gone for god knows how long. Judging by the high position of the sun now, it had already reached midday. Evidently, she spent more time sorting out her mind than she had anticipated.

Mirajane got up on her feet, dusted her backside off any possible dirt, and left the park. Clearly, she was no longer in the mood to go back to the guild, much less meeting Cana or anyone, really. Instead, she turned and took the path toward her house. Luckily, she'd thoughtfully taken the precaution of making two house keys—one being Elfman's and the other one being hers—so she had no trouble getting in. She stopped dead on her track as soon as she entered her living room.

There was a figure lying comfortably across the coach, and the unmistakable pink locks he sported gave her a perfect idea of who he was. Mirajane didn't even know what to feel when she saw him again after last night. She supposed she should somehow feel embarrassed with her rather bold action, but surprisingly, she didn't. If anything, she was actually happy to see him again, and glad that he looked equally calm and fine as well.

"How did you get in here?" she asked, her voice didn't hold any surprise, as she walked in further. Being Natsu's friend for years she had learned to expect the unexpected at any times, making her almost immune to any of his unusual antics. There was one time when she came home to find Natsu and Happy were engaged in a heated argument _atop_ her rooftop. She didn't think they managed to sort out the problem though, because the argument ended with Natsu slipping off the roof before he could give any comeback, thus making Happy came out victorious.

From his position, Natsu cracked his previously closed eyes open, and grinned at her. "Hey Mira! You left your bedroom window unlocked so I thought I should let myself in," he replied casually as if it was a perfectly normal thing to do.

Mirajane crossed her arms against her chest and arched a perfect eyebrow, though her eyes were dancing in mirth. "You broke into my house through my _bedroom window?_ What else, you're going to start stuffing my jewelry now?"

He sat up from his position and laughed. "Not jewelry. But I'll probably raid your fridge later."

She rolled her eyes sarcastically. "Knock yourself out." Just then, she realized something amiss. "Where's Happy?"

Natsu shrugged indifferently. "Still at the guild. Apparently, he's giving me the silent treatment."

Mirajane's lips curled up in amusement and she walked over to sit on one of the arm chairs. "Now what is it about this time?"

Natsu snorted in annoyance. "The usual. He blamed me for something I didn't even do. I swear to god, he's more dramatic than a hormonal teenage girl sometimes."

"You mean like me?" Mirajane prodded, wanting to sound irritated yet her face was all glee.

"Psh, of course not. You're like the coolest girl I've ever met."

She didn't know how he did it, but those simple words made a huge impact of brightening her day, and she found herself unable to hide her grin.

"You didn't come to the guild today," he pointed softly. It was more of a statement than a question.

"Miss me already?" Mirajane teased, placing her elbow on the armrest and rested her chin on her palm.

There was a momentary pause before he voiced his answer which Mirajane took note of. "I'm just wondering you know."

She hummed and raised a teasing eyebrow, playfully doubting his answer, but she replied anyway, "Actually, I did come. I just decided to be back early."

"Did something happen?"

 _Nothing worth your attention,_ she thought to herself. She decided to stick to the truth but didn't delve too much. "Not much. Just… Cana being Cana. She nagged me way too much and I just need a fresh air."

Lucky for her, he didn't try to. He snickered in agreement, "Tell me about it. She can be a little overwhelming sometimes. Especially when she's drunk, which is _all the time._ It's probably your first time to fall for her victim, right?" When she nodded, he continued, "It's annoying, but you'll get used to it."

Natsu chose that time to stand up, pulling his arms upward to stretch. Mirajane couldn't help but run her eyes appreciatively along his firm torso. How come she never realized the guy had a really nice body? More importantly, where did that thought come from? She bit her lip and forced herself to avert her eyes elsewhere. Damn it. She cursed Cana for giving her ideas and messing with her head.

She steadied herself before clearing her throat. "So, are you here to demand your personalized all-you-can-eat feast?" she said as she started walking to the kitchen.

Natsu grinned widely and followed her. "Hell yeah. I haven't had anything today so I'm famished."

Mirajane quirked an eyebrow. "You purposely starve yourself just so you can go all out, don't you?" She opened her fridge to take out the ingredients and was silently thankful that she always had plenty of food stocked in there, thus saving herself from the trouble of having to go to the market for this occasion.

Natsu just shrugged, refusing to confirm nor deny the statement. "Need a hand?" he offered instead.

The Demon smiled gratefully. In the past, she didn't trust any guy to help her in the kitchen, which was why she only ever allowed Lisanna around. But ever since her absence, Elfman always offered in her stead, which she refused the first several times. When he kept insisted though, she finally relented. Now, she found it rather helpful, and it was just simply nice to have someone to converse with in the kitchen. "It'll be nice if you could help me wash the vegetables and fishes."

"Sure," he replied easily, taking the said ingredients from her hands and moved toward the washing basin.

Mirajane returned to the fridge to fetch the rest of the ingredients, before setting them on the counter. She turned around and asked him, "Do you have any special request? Before I do anything."

Natsu craned his neck, looking at her sideways. "Well, I don't have anything in mind. It's up to you. I basically love anything you cook."

She smiled and nodded. "Alright. Just don't blame me if this suddenly turned into a vegan feast."

Natsu turned his body fully toward her and gaped in horror. "You _wouldn't…"_

Mirajane giggled in mirth. She could never get enough of his adorable naivety. "Of course I won't. Otherwise, I wouldn't tell you to clean the fishes now, would I?" She winked as she thrusted the frozen meat and chicken into his hands. "And I won't be handing you these either."

The dragon slayer held them stiffly, ignoring the stinging cold sensation on his skin. His body suddenly went rigid and he stared at her in pure disbelief. _Holy shit, did Mira actually winked at me?_

Mirajane, however, spared no second to pay attention to the pink haired anymore as she already returned to her station and started working. Natsu quickly snapped out of his trance and spun around as well. He ran the water to unfreeze the cold meat and chicken, smiling down at them. _She really is different now._

They spend the next one and a half hour preparing the meal. By prepare it really only meant that Mirajane did all the cooking while Natsu hovering around her as she worked, occasionally taking a taste or two. They both decided that he was better off just watching from the sideline after he cut himself from trying to chop the carrots. By the time they finished, Elfman arrived with a questionably cheerful looking Happy in tow. Natsu had approached him and tried to talk to him again, and surprisingly, he acted as if their earlier fight never happened. It was weird, considering it usually took more time for his best friend to come around after declaring the silent treatment, but decided not to mull over it too much and just shrugged it off.

They ended up having a pleasant lunch together, albeit Mirajane having to constantly scold Happy for taking a rather huge portion of the fish since it was supposed to be Natsu's playday. Fortunately, she prepared just enough to satisfy both the cat and his partner. They talked and laughed about anything, mostly whatever that came from the dragon slayer's mouth. Mirajane watched and listened as he vigorously told them the stupid time when Happy stuck his head inside a round bowl from playing astronaut, and ended up having to sleep with it because Natsu refused to help him before then out of sheer amusement. She laughed wholeheartedly in the end, wondering to herself if she had ever been this happy before in her life.

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 **Author's note:** Hiya, it's been a while! *dodging knifes and bullets* Despite going MIA these past four months, I'm actually still alive and well. Hopefully this long chapter is enough to make up for the long wait. And no, I didn't put the disclaimer and flashback of the previous chapter just to make it look longer. I just feel bad that you probably have to go back to the previous chapter just to refresh your memory every time I updated, so yeah.

On the side note, I decided to change the genre back to Hurt/Comfort, if you haven't notice already, because I realized the storyline isn't depressing enough for a Tragedy. I hope I didn't disappoint anyone…

As usual, my love goes to every one of my readers. You guys are the only reason why I keep on continuing this, despite the lengthy time it takes me to finish it. I'm really surprised to see that the numbers keep growing even long after the last update! You guys… *sniff* I'm honestly touched. Damn, I have the best readers.

Stay awesome guys!


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